Joe Biden takes early lead against President Trump

Joe Biden has 13 points lead as Trump's popularity plummeted

Joe Biden has taken early lead against President Trump in the presidential race. In a latest poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos during June 10-16, 48% of registered voters said they would back presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in the November 03,2020 election, while 35% said they would support Trump. Biden is leading with the margin of 13 points. Biden also leading in the CNN poll in which his advantage is 14 points.

But never forget that almost all the polls were giving Hillary Clinton clear lead against Trump in 2016. Polls only reflect the popular mood. But American election system is bit complicated. Hillary defeated Trump with wide margin in popular vote but she failed to secure the required electoral votes. In some states, both Biden and Trump are neck to neck and difficult to predict at this stage. 

Despite all the shortcomings of these polls, they reflect the popular mood of the population. 

The Reuters/Ipsos poll also showed that 57% of U.S. adults disapproved of Trump’s performance in office, while just 38% approved, marking Trump’s lowest approval rating since November, when Congress was conducting its impeachment inquiry into the Republican president.

In a clear warning sign for Trump, his own support base appears to be eroding. Republicans’ net approval of Trump is down 13 points from March to June, declining every month in that span.

The shift in opinion comes as Americans are whipsawed by the coronavirus pandemic, the ensuing economic collapse and the outpouring of anger and frustration following numerous deadly confrontations between police and African Americans, including the death last month of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody.

Trump, who dismissed the threat of the coronavirus early on, sparred with state governors as they tried to slow its spread and has pushed authorities to allow businesses to reopen despite warnings from health experts about increasing risks of transmission.

More than 116,000 people in the United States have died from the virus and more than 2.1 million people have been infected, by far the most in the world. Some states that have reopened such as Florida, Arizona and Texas are seeing a jump in cases.

Altogether, 55% of Americans said they disapproved of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus, while 40% approved, which is the lowest net approval for the president on the subject since Reuters/Ipsos started tracking the question in early March.

President Trump is also facing criticism on his response to the protests that broke out after the killing of African American Georg Floyd in the police custody. While nearly two thirds of respondents sympathized with the protesters, according to the poll, Trump has openly flirted with deploying the military to “dominate” them.

When it comes to economy, Trump still has the upper hand over Biden. Forty-three percent of registered voters said they thought Trump would be a better steward of the economy than Biden, while 38% said Biden would be better. Trump has 15 point lead over Biden on the question of economy.

                                                                    R K Bhatti