Trump trails Biden; Covid handling to be poll decider

Washington, July 20

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US President Donald Trump faces an uphill task in his re-election bid in November with his approval rating hitting a record low and Democratic nominee Joe Biden taking a double-digit lead in key indicators, according to a survey conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News.

The opinion poll, conducted between July 12 and 15, shows how the Covid outbreak has adversely affected Trump’s prospects. Now, the president’s hopes of winning are pinned on his enthusiastic core base of supporters and showing the electorate that the pandemic is being dealt with effectively, The Washington Post said in its report on the ABC News-Post poll.

Among registered voters, Biden, 77, leads Trump, 74, 55 per cent to 40 per cent. In the same category, Biden led Trump by just two points in March and by 10 points in May. The survey found that traditional Republican and Democratic voters are treating the November poll as a referendum on Trump and not on whether Biden is a more suitable candidate, the report said.

Seventy-two per cent of Trump voters say re-electing the president is important, while 62 per cent of Biden voters say defeating Trump is the goal.

The Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted by phone among a random American citizens sample of 1,006 adults. Results may have error margin of plus/minus 3.5 percentage points.

The survey said 54 per cent of Americans believe Biden would handle the outbreak better than Trump. Only 34 per cent felt Trump was doing well tackling the pandemic.

In handling of the economy, Biden has made giant strides and is nearly on a par with Trump in the opinion poll, the ABC News reported. Notably, 48 per cent of the surveyed ‘strongly disapprove’ Trump’s way of doing his job, according to the Washington Post’s article. — PTI

Prez popularity lagging on key issues

Joe Biden edges out Donald Trump by nine points in crime and safety, which has been a major topic in the US after anti-racism protests.

On race relations, Biden has a lead of 25 points over his Republican rival (58-33 %). Trump’s job approval rating has plummeted in the last two months.

Biden outscores Trump in ‘uniting the country’ (24 points) and understanding problems of the people (17 points).