Campaign

Biden opens 13-point lead over Trump in Kaiser Family Foundation poll

Former Vice President Joe Biden has opened up a 13-point lead over President Trump in the latest Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) tracking poll released on Friday. 

The poll shows the presumptive Democratic nominee garnering about 51 percent of the vote in the general election, while Trump trails with 38 percent. Among those who preferred Biden, 37 percent said they would “definitely” vote for him in November, while another 14 percent said that they “probably” would.

For Trump, 30 percent of respondents said they would “definitely” cast their ballot for him in the general election, while about 8 percent said they “probably” would. 

The tracking poll suggests that support for Biden has begun to harden among voters who were previously less sure of their choice for president. In a similar tracking poll from KFF conducted last month, about 28 percent of respondents said they would “definitely” vote for Biden, while 15 percent said they “probably” would. 

That same poll showed 11 percent of  voters undecided, compared to only 7 percent this month.

Meanwhile, Trump’s support among his most committed voters is showing signs of stagnating. In last month’s tracking poll, 30 percent of respondents said they would “definitely” vote for him in November. That number remained unchanged in the June survey.

Overall, Biden leads Trump by 13 points in the June tracking poll, up from a scant 2-point lead in the May survey. 

The KFF poll is only one of a growing number of surveys showing the gap between Biden and Trump widening. A New York Times-Siena College poll released this week found the former vice president ahead by 14 points nationally. And on Thursday, a CNBC-All America Economic Survey showed Biden leading Trump by 9 points nationally.

In battleground states, Trump doesn’t fare much better. New York Times-Siena College polls of voters in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin released this week found Biden leading in all six states. 

Trump’s waning poll numbers against Biden come as he faces mounting challenges around the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and protests over racial injustice and police brutality. His overall approval rating has also taken a hit. The KFF tracking poll released on Friday showed his approval among registered voters sinking to 41 percent from 46 percent in May.

The KFF tracking poll surveyed 1,094 registered voters by phone from June 8 to 14. It has a margin of sampling error of 4 percentage points.