Poll Shows Donald Trump Trailing Joe Biden In Three Key Battleground States

According to a new Ipsos poll conducted for Reuters, President Donald Trump is trailing former Vice President Joe Biden in three key battleground states.

In Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania — all of which carried Trump to victory in 2016 — Biden, the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee, is polling at 45 percent, six points ahead of Trump. Biden’s lead has steadily increased over the past few months, according to the poll. In the months of February and March, the former vice president’s lead over Trump averaged three to four percentage points.

Nationwide, Biden is polling eight percentage points ahead of Trump, which suggests that the president is still relatively strong in the Midwest, largely thanks to the support he enjoys among white working class voters. Nevertheless, Trump’s approval ratings in the three key states are far from great.

In Pennsylvania, 48 percent approve and 52 disapprove of the job he is doing. In Wisconsin, 53 percent disapprove and 47 approve. In Michigan, Trump’s approval rating is 44 percent, while 56 percent disapprove of the job he is doing as president.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced both Biden and Trump off the campaign trail. The president has been holding daily press briefings at the White House, while Biden has struggled to cut through the noise and reach the public. Furthermore, according to the survey, the COVID-19 pandemic eclipses all other issues in the eyes of the public.

According to the poll, 48 percent of voters in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania say that the virus is the most important problem in their community. Fifteen percent say it is the economy, 12 percent say healthcare, and only 2 percent believe immigration is a major issue.

For Trump, who has declared himself a “wartime president,” public perception of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic is crucial. According to the poll, 47 percent of voters in the three Midwestern battleground states approve of the way the president has handled the pandemic. Sixty-seven percent approve of how their governors have handled the crisis.

The poll is good news for Biden, but, as Reuters notes, a lot could change in the coming months.

“To be sure, anything can happen with several months to go before the Nov. 3 general election. State polls in 2016 showed Democrat Hillary Clinton enjoyed wide leads over Trump early in the election cycle in those same Midwestern states before she lost them to Trump on Election Day, all of them by less than a percentage point,” the news agency wrote.

Some polls have suggested that the apparent lack of enthusiasm among Democrats is Biden’s greatest vulnerability. For instance, according to a ABC News/Washington Post poll released late March, only 24 percent of Biden’s supporters are highly enthusiastic about voting for him.