With less than a year to go before Election Day, former president Donald Trump is leading President Joe Biden in head-to-head matchups in all seven major swing states.
A newly released Morning Consult poll shows Trump maintaining a strong lead over Biden in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, and North Carolina. Trump’s lead over Biden in Georgia (6 points) and North Carolina (9 points) is outside the margin of error, while his lead in the other five states is within the margin of error and ranges anywhere from 2 to 4 points.
The former president bested Biden by 5 points in all swing states combined, well outside the margin of error.
Though Biden retains a hold on Generation Z voters, 44 percent of whom would vote for Biden today compared to Trump’s 38 percent, his overall support is faltering after nearly three years in the White House. Much of the discontent appears to stem from Biden’s failure to live up to his promises on student-loan forgiveness, with 43 percent of Gen Z voters saying he has not done enough to address student loans, compared to just 27 percent of all respondents.
Biden “is making no gains among groups he is going to need to pull off a victory next year,” Morning Consult’s U.S. political analyst Eli Yokley said in summary of the latest findings.
Part of Biden’s drop in support can be attributed to his handling of issues such as the economy and Israel-Hamas war, both areas in which Trump is dominating his opponent. Fifty-one percent of respondents across all seven states trust Trump more to handle the economy, while 33 percent say the same of Biden. As for the conflict in the Middle East, 44 percent trust Trump more on the issue compared to Biden’s 33 percent.
The new poll comes one day after House Republicans passed a resolution to formally authorize the Biden-impeachment inquiry, an issue that is split relatively evenly among voters. In all surveyed swing states, 45 percent say they either strongly or somewhat support the impeachment probe and 42 percent say they strongly or somewhat oppose it. The investigation concerns Biden’s alleged involvement in his family’s business practices.
A recent national poll, conducted by the Wall Street Journal, also demonstrates Trump’s growing 4-point lead against Biden across the U.S. When five potential third-party candidates are included in the mix, that lead extends to 6 points. The poll also shows Biden’s dismal approval rating of 37 percent, marking a new low in his presidency.
While each of the poll’s results should be cause for concern for the Biden campaign, spokesman Daniel Wessel said they are focused on making clear the differences “between the extreme MAGA agenda and President Biden’s popular agenda that has delivered for young people, and Americans of all ages.”
Morning Consult surveyed 4,935 registered voters from November 27 to December 6. The poll has a margin of error of 1 percentage point for all seven states, 3 points for Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania; 4 points in Michigan, North Carolina, and Wisconsin; and 5 points in Nevada.