Poll: Biden widens lead over Trump to 10 points
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s lead over President Donald Trump among registered voters has increased by 8 percentage points since March as approval of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has slipped, according to a poll released Sunday by ABC News and The Washington Post.
The presumptive Democratic nominee leads Trump 53%-43% among registered voters, the poll found. On March 25, the same survey showed a much tighter race, with Biden leading by just 2 percentage points, 49%-47%.
And Trump’s overall approval rating has slipped since the March 25 poll, which for the first time in his presidency found more Americans approving (48%) than disapproving (46%) of the job he was doing. In May’s poll, his approval rating dropped 2 points to 46% and his disapproval rating jumped 7 points to 53%.
Democratic and Republican voters were firmly behind their party’s standard-bearers, 95% and 94%, respectively. But Biden had a wide lead among registered independents, 56%39%, after leading by just 1 point with those voters two months ago.
The candidates’ support showed sharp divides by gender and race. Trump led by 8 points among male voters (52%-44%) and Biden held a 28-point advantage among female voters (62%-34%). Trump led by 9 percentage points among white voters, 53%-44%, while Biden was backed by 89% of black voters and 69% of Hispanic voters.
Trump’s slide has coincided with the spread of the coronavirus across the U.S.
The poll of 1,001 Americans was conducted May 25-28 and does not reflect the full impact of recent anti-police brutality protests on voters’ opinions. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.