Trump Narrowing Gap With Biden In Latest National Polls, As Early Voting Looms

Three polls released Wednesday show presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden leading President Trump in the general election. While most recent national polls show Biden with a strong lead, the latest polls have Trump narrowing the gap.

A poll from The Hill-HarrisX shows Biden leading Trump by 3 points, an improvement for Trump after trailing Biden by 7 points on July 22. The poll shows that many are undecided, as Biden has 43% support and Trump has 40%.

A poll from the right-leaning Rasmussen Reports also shows Biden leading by 3 points, 48%-45%. On July 29, a Rasmussen Reports poll had Biden leading Trump 48%-42%.

Biden fares better in an Economist/YouGov poll, which shows his 49%-40% lead on Trump has not changed from July 29.

State polling has been encouraging for Biden. Since July 30, polls have indicated that Biden has a lead of at least 4 points in battleground states Florida, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Trump carried four of the five aforementioned states, which have a combined total of 86 electoral votes.

Meanwhile, Trump and Biden appear to be a tight race in Texas, which carries 38 electoral votes. A Quinnipiac University poll showed Biden ahead in Texas by a point, while a CBS News/YouGov poll had Trump leading by a point.

Georgia, another traditional red state in presidential elections, also shows promise for Biden. A recent CBS News/YouGov poll shows Biden at 46% in Georgia, with Trump at 45%. The state has 16 electoral votes and was last won by a Democrat in 1992, when Bill Clinton edged Republican incumbent George H.W. Bush.

Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with his response to the demonstrations after the death of George Floyd, may have hurt him in polls. Due to a surge in mail-in ballots this cycle amid the pandemic, Trump is pressed for time to turn around his campaign, with the vital swing state of North Carolina sending out absentee ballots on Sept. 4.