Biden Scores 14-Point Lead Over Trump in Poll After Debate
"President Trump is drawing his weakest voter support of the year in his re-election race following
Tuesday’s contentious debate with former Vice President Joe Biden, a
new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.
Mr. Biden, the Democratic nominee, leads the president, 53% to 39%, among registered voters in the new poll, which was conducted in the two days following the debate but before news emerged that Mr. Trump had
tested positive for Covid-19. Mr. Biden’s 14-point lead compares with
an 8-point advantage last month and
11 points in July, which was his largest of the campaign at that time.
The survey finds something rare in Journal/NBC News polling: evidence that an individual news event—the debate—is having a material effect on Mr. Trump’s political standing, at least for now. Significant events in the past, such as
Mr. Trump’s impeachment by the House and acquittal by the Senate, had only hardened views of the president, not shifted them.
Bill McInturff, a Republican pollster who directed the survey with Democrat Jeff Horwitt, cautioned that the poll was conducted during an unsettled moment after
the caustic presidential debate—“a shock to the system,” he called it—and could reflect a temporary reassessment of views. “The public can be taking a moment to say, ‘What did I just see, and how do I feel about it?’” he said. Mr. Trump could regain ground, Mr. McInturff said, given that “he has a history of bouncing back to some set point.”
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