- The new Marist/PBS/NPR poll puts the two rivals at 49 percent
President Joe Biden and his rival, the former Donald Trump, are approaching the first presidential debate in Atlanta on even terms — with the pair tied in a new national poll just days before the high-stakes meeting.
After months of declining support, Biden and the former president are tied for 49 percent of new support NPR/PBS News/Marist ahead of the debate, which will be held in prime time on CNN next week.
Only 2 percent of registered voters say they have not yet made a choice.
According to the poll, Trump has a slight lead, 50 to 49 percent, among those who say they definitely plan to vote in November.
Biden has been in an improved position in recent weeks, although he has not received a major boost from Trump’s conviction on charges of falsifying corporate records after his trial in Manhattan.
But he has improved his standing among independent voters, the group who say they are most susceptible to being swayed by the jury’s guilty verdict.
Biden leads Independents in the poll by 50 to 48 percent. That comes after Trump trailed 54-42 in an earlier survey.
President Joe Biden ties rival Donald Trump in new Marist/PBS/NPR poll, days before the men face off in CNN debate
Biden and Trump are tied at 49 percent in the new poll
“This may be the group most affected by the results of Donald Trump’s legal troubles,” said Lee Miringoff, who led the survey. NPR. “But independents are much more persuasive on the whole sea of issues that will impact this election outcome.”
But in a contest in which both sides are preparing massive advertising campaigns against their unpopular opponent, Trump leads 48-41 among those with unfavorable views of both.
About 9 percent of voters have not yet decided who they will vote for, compared to 25 percent who say they have a “good idea.”
Trump leads Biden by less than a percentage point in the RealClearPolitics polling average.
Biden’s team, which posted a new ad on Monday labeling Trump as a convicted felon, knows it must improve its position among younger voters and non-whites.
The results come just a day after the White House was once again forced to respond to a series of troubling videos showing 81-year-old Biden seemingly frozen on stage during events.
(Trump, who just turned 78, last weekend demanded that Biden take a cognitive test even as he botched the name of former White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson and repeatedly referred to him as “Ronny Johnson.”)
Former President Donald Trump has attacked Biden for being “frozen” on stage. Trump botched the name of former White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson as he called on Biden to take a cognitive test
Trump has improved his performance among whites to 55-43, doubling his lead from May. Biden’s 58-40 lead among non-whites is an improvement from May, but he may need to boost his performance to reach key battleground states with a large share of non-white voters.
Third-party candidates remain an X-factor. With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other candidates, Trump leads Biden 42 to 41 percent. Kennedy is at 11 percent, while Cornel West gets 3 percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein gets 1 percent. Libertarian Chase Oliver gets 1 percent.