Donald Trump Closing Gap On Joe Biden In Polls After RNC

President Donald Trump appears to have gotten a bump in the polls in the immediate aftermath of the Republican National Convention, inching closer toward Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

A new poll conducted Friday by Morning Consult asked 4,035 likely voters which candidate they would pick in the Nov. 3 election. Trump received 44% of the votes compared to 50% for Biden, cutting the former vice president’s lead to six points.

One day before the convention started on Aug. 24, Biden had a 10-point lead, according to Morning Consult, with 52% of likely voters on his side. That poll included 4,810 people and had a one-point margin of error.

Friday’s poll had a two-point margin of error.

Biden didn’t see a similar bump in the polls after the previous week’s Democratic National Convention.

The gains Trump made are largely from suburban and white voters, Morning Consult reports. Biden had a 54% to 40% lead over the incumbent among likely suburban voters before the RNC, and his lead was cut to eight points. Trump leads Biden 51% to 43% when it comes to likely white voters compared to the two-point edge he had a week ago.

Amid racial unrest and protests in cities across the country, Trump has portrayed himself as the candidate of “law and order,” indicating that violence will only get worse if Biden is elected to office. While his message might be working on some suburban voters, Trump appears to have more work to do in order to stay in the White House for another four years.

“He’s obtuse, and he doesn’t get it,” said Lee Davis, who watched parts of the convention from Wisconsin, a key swing state, via The Associated Press. “But I don’t think he’s a racist. I just think he’s incapable of moving comfortably to talking about race. It’s one of the many things he handles poorly because he’s a nihilist.”

After the convention, Trump trails Biden by 28 points among likely Hispanic voters and 74 points among likely Black voters, despite Trump’s claims of doing more for Black people than any president since Abraham Lincoln.

“I have done more in three years for the black community than Joe Biden has done in 47 years,” Trump said in Thursday’s speech on the White House lawn. “And when I'm re-elected, the best is yet to come.”

With coronavirus cases in the United States dropping from their peak in July, Trump is polling better in swing states. Biden still has the lead in those key states.

People who bet on the presidential election seemed to think Trump improved his chances of winning in November. A sizable underdog a few weeks ago, Trump nearly had the same odds to win the election as Biden just a few hours after the RNC ended.

Trump received a similar bump after the convention in 2016. The Republican candidate took a four-point lead over Hillary Clinton following the RNC four years ago. Clinton entered the convention with a two-point lead.

Only 7% of likely voters are currently undecided or said they would vote for a third-party candidate, compared to 16% of voters after the 2016 convention.