Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden talks about his plans to tackle climate change during a campaign event in Wilmington, Delaware, on July 14, 2020.
Leah Millis | Reuters
According to the new CNBC / Change Research poll, former Vice President Joe Biden clings to his leadership of President Donald Trump in six 2020 changing states as voters give the president low marks on how he has handled a variety of problems.
Biden has an advantage over Trump in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, while rivals are practically tied in North Carolina, according to the survey published on Wednesday. Biden leads Trump by a 49% to 43% margin among all respondents in the six states, while libertarian and Green Party candidates Jo Jorgensen and Howie Hawkins get 4% and 1% support, respectively.
This is how Biden, the presumed Democratic presidential candidate and Republican Trump agreed in individual states:
- Arizona: Biden 51%, Trump 45%
- Florida: Biden 50%, Trump 43%
- Michigan: Biden 48%, Trump 42%
- North Carolina: Biden 47%, Trump 46%
- Pennsylvania: Biden 50%, Trump 42%
- Wisconsin: Biden 48%, Trump 42%
Recent versions of the survey, taken every two weeks, show a career that has momentarily shifted in Biden’s favor as the coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate the United States. It marks a turnaround from CNBC / Change Research polls conducted in March and April, which showed Trump leading Biden in most changing states.
The poll released Wednesday surveyed 4,332 likely voters in the six states Friday through Sunday. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.5 percentage points.
The poll underscores dissatisfaction with the way Trump manages his presidency, including in six states he won in 2016. The battlefields, which include the coronavirus hotspots in Arizona and Florida, will once again determine who wins the White House. this year.
In all six states, the majority of voters approve of how Trump handles only one problem: the stock market. These are the marks that likely voters gave Trump on how he’s handling seven different issues:
- The coronavirus: 43% approve, 57% disapprove (in Florida, the current epicenter of the US outbreak, only 40% of respondents approve of the work Trump is doing)
- The economy: 48% approve, 52% disapprove
- Helping your pocket: 47% approve, 53% disapprove
- The stock market: 51% approve, 49% disapprove
- Immigration: 45% approve, 55% disapprove
- Ensuring financial relief for COVID-19 goes to those who need it most, rather than the wealthy and well-connected: 47% approve, 53% disapprove
- Make the United States respected worldwide: 45% approve, 55% disapprove
The negative views on Trump’s job performance are because he has downplayed the growing health and economic crisis caused by spikes in coronavirus cases in the southern and western United States. The seven-day average of new cases of coronavirus in the US topped 60,000 for the first time on Monday.
As the president urges states to get their economies up and running as quickly as possible, the outbreak has forced them to reconsider their reopening plans. California on Monday ordered the closure of all bars, restaurants and a variety of other indoor activities as the case counts in the most populous increases in the US state.
In the six changing states, voters trust Biden more than Trump to address several key issues. On managing the coronavirus, 54% responded that Biden and the Democrats would do a better job, while 46% chose Trump and the Republican Party.
Majorities of 55% and 53%, respectively, said Biden and the Democrats would do a better job of making health care more affordable and putting the middle class first. Voters were equally divided over who would best manage the economy.
– CNBC John Schoen chart
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