Former president Donald Trump has widened his lead over President Joe Biden, according to the latest national poll.
The Morning Consult poll shows Trump leading Biden 46% to 42% with a combined 13% saying they planned on voting for someone else or weren’t sure who they were voting for. The poll was conducted July 15-17, just days after a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania, injuring the GOP nominee in the ear. One rally-goer was killed and two others were injured.
The 4-percentage point lead is Trump’s largest advantage since February and just 1 point shy of the record 5-point margin he posted in January, according to Morning Consult.
Among Democrats, 85% said they planned to vote for Biden even as the president faces a growing chorus of detractors calling for him to exit the race. Nintety-one percent of Republicans said they planned to vote for Trump, who also led the president among independents, 38% to 32%.
Biden also trailed Trump among those who had previously supported the candidates. Only 81% of Biden 2020 voters said they’d do the same this November compared to 92% who planned to cast a vote for Trump.
The same poll showed 62% said they had heard something negative about Biden in the past week compared to 48% who said the same for Trump. The national average of major polls – including Morning Consult’s – from Project538.com, shows Trump as the choice of 42.7% of voters compared to 40% for Biden. Ninety-five percent of all the averages fall within this range, pollsters said.
