Biden topping Trump in six swing states president carried in 2016: poll

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden holds substantial leads over President Trump in several battleground states ahead of the 2020 election, according to a New York Times-Siena College survey released Thursday.

The poll showed the former vice president leading Trump by at least 6 points in North Carolina, Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, states that are considered critical to winning the election in November. Trump won each of those states in 2016.

Biden holds commanding 11-point leads over Trump in Michigan and Wisconsin among registered voters. He also has a 10-point lead in Pennsylvania, as well as a 9-point advantage in North Carolina. He leads the president by 7 points in Arizona and 6 points in Florida. 

The findings come as surveys continue to show Biden with solid leads over the president in head-to-head election match-ups. A Times-Siena College survey released on Wednesday showed him with a 14-point lead nationally over Trump. 

The new surveys show that Trump continues to fare better in relatively white battleground states. But they also show Biden’s standing improving: A Time-Siena survey released last October had the former vice president with an advantage of just 2 percentage points across the same six swing states; Biden’s lead across those states is now 9 points, the Times noted.

Just 42 percent of voters surveyed approve of Trump’s handling of the presidency, while 54 percent disapprove it. The survey also shows that many voters in the battleground states do not approve of how Trump has handled the coronavirus and the protests that swept the nation following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis late last month.

Forty-one percent said they approved of the president’s handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, while just 31 percent said they approved how Trump has addressed the demonstrations against racial injustice. Still, a majority of voters, 56 percent, say they approve of Trump’s handling of the economy. 

Trump’s advantage with white voters has substantially diminished, according to the poll. The president leads Biden by 4 points among that demographic. The figure represents a significant shift from a similar survey from last year, which found the president with a 12-point lead. 

Biden holds sizable leads over Trump among Black and Hispanic voters. He’s also leading the president by 19 points among women, the new polls found. 

The Times-Siena College poll was conducted from June 8 to June 18 among a population of 3,870 registered voters across Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida, Arizona, Wisconsin and North Carolina. The margin of error is 1.8 percentage points.