Biden’s lead widens to 12 points over Trump: US media

WASHINGTON DC: The Democratic presidential nominee and former vice president Joe Biden has an impressive 12-point lead over incumbent President Donald Trump in the race for the White House, according to a Fox News opinion poll in which the majority of the voters cited racism, unemployment and the Coronavirus pandemic as major threats to the stability of the country.

As the campaign for the November 3 presidential election gradually takes off after months of pause due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic, Fox News, said to be the favourite channel of the president, reported that Biden has widened the poll margin over Trump.

Last month, Biden had an advantage of eight points against Trump who is seeking re-election on the Republican ticket. Now Biden has increased his lead to 12 points, the report said.

According to the Fox poll, as per the polling done between June 13 and 16, as many as 50 per cent of the respondents supported Biden against 38 per cent for Trump.

Majority of the respondents said that racism, unemployment, and Coronavirus pose a major threat to the stability of the country, the poll revealed. According to the poll, Biden supporters are far more likely to say fear that Trump might win is behind their vote choice (63 per cent) than to say it is enthusiasm for Biden (31 p er cent).

The opposite is true among those backing Trump, as almost twice as many of his supporters say enthusiasm is the motivation (62 per cent) rather than fear Biden could win (33 per cent), it said.

Negative emotions like fear, anxiety, and anger, can be powerful motivators for political participation, says Daron Shaw, who conducts the Fox News poll with Democrat Chris Anderson.

The lack of enthusiasm for Biden, however, does create an opening for Trump to define him as out of touch and not up to the task, Shaw was quoted as saying.

According to Realclear-Politics, which tracks all major national polls, Biden on average leads Trump by 8.8 percentage points.