Biden’s lead over Trump narrows in new national poll

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s lead over President Trump has narrowed since last month, according to a new national poll. 

Biden leads Trump by just 4 points, with Biden at 50 percent and Trump at 46 percent, according to a CNN poll released Sunday. That marks a significant shift since the poll was last conducted in June, when the Democrat led Trump by 14 points, with Biden at 55 percent and Trump at 41. 

The movement in the poll among voters is concentrated among men, who were split about evenly in June but who now back Trump over Biden 56 to 40 percent, and voters between the ages of 35 and 64, who tilt toward Trump now but were leaning toward Biden in June, according to CNN. 

Among independents, Biden also held a 52 percent lead over Trump’s 41 percent in June, but now independents are nearly evenly divided, with 46 percent backing Biden and 45 percent supporting Trump, according to CNN. 

Voters who said they back Trump, though, are more likely to say they may change their mind. Twelve percent of voters who said they back Trump said they may change their mind before Election Day, but just 7 percent of Biden supporters said the same, based on the poll. 

The results of the national survey come just ahead of the Democratic National Convention, which begins on Monday. A range of Democrats are scheduled to speak as part of the virtual programming to boost Biden as the former vice president is set to accept the party’s nomination. 

Other recent polls, including an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll released earlier Sunday, have found Biden with a wider lead over Trump. Recent polls of key battleground states have also indicated Biden has a lead over the president. 

The study was conducted for CNN by SSRS, an independent research company, from Aug. 12 to 15. It is based on a sample of 1,108 respondents. There is a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.