Former Vice President Joe Biden is pummeling President Donald Trump by “a landslide,” according to a recent national poll.
Biden leads Trump, 53% to 40%, in a one-on-one matchup, according to the poll released by Quinnipiac University Tuesday. Biden’s double-digit lead is spurred by a gender gap. Among potential women voters, Biden has a substantial lead, 60% to 34%, while among men, Biden has a narrow lead on Trump, 47% to 46%.
While Trump also lags behind five other Democratic presidential candidates in the same poll, it’s Biden’s 13% lead that jumps out, said Tim Malloy, the Quinnipiac poll’s assistant director.
“It’s a long 17 months to Election Day, but Joe Biden is ahead by landslide proportions,” he said of the survey of 1,214 voters nationwide conducted in June.
It could be a tough race, though as the Quinnipiac poll shows, white voters are split between the two candidates with Trump at 47% and Biden at 46%. However, among black voters, Biden leads overwhelmingly at 85% to 12%, and among Hispanic voters, 58% to 33%.
Trump and Biden Spar in Iowa
The Quinnipiac poll came out on the same day Trump and Biden took scathing shots at one another while holding competing campaign events in Iowa, the critical early-voting state that kicks off the 2020 primary season.
Before leaving the White House on Tuesday, Trump called Biden a “loser,” saying he’d instead rather run against him than the other 22 Democratic presidential candidates. Trump also added that he thought Biden was the “weakest mentally,” as the other candidates have “more energy.”
“And I like running against people that are weak mentally,” said the president, who further attacked Biden during a stop in Council Bluffs, Iowa, as Trump bragged about the nation’s low employment rate and rise in blue-collar jobs.
“He said my name so many times today that people couldn’t stand it anymore,” Trump said to supporters holding his hands near his ears. “‘No, don’t keep saying it.’ Sleepy guy.”
Trump also told his supporters that foreign leaders have treated the United States with “no respect” and that would continue if Biden became president.
“People don’t respect him, even the people that he’s running against. They’re saying, ‘Where is he?'” said Trump about Biden.
In retaliation, Biden told his supporters across the state in Davenport, Iowa, that voters next year have to “repudiate” Trump’s policies and values.
Biden said while America “can overcome four years of this presidency,” Trump is literally an “existential threat” to “the character of this nation” if he is re-elected to another term in office.
“In 2020, we not only have to repudiate Donald Trump’s policies and values—we have to clearly and fully reject, for our own safety’s sake, his view of the presidency,” Biden said. “Quote: ‘I have complete power.’ No, you don’t, Donald Trump.”
Biden further added, “We talk about the fact of let’s ‘Make America Great’ again, I’d settle for just let America be America again.”
And, if the Democratic frontrunner doesn’t become his party’s choice in 2020, Biden told supporters, “Folks it’s gotta end, whether it’s me or not, it’s gotta end.”
Trump Also Trails 5 Other Democratic Contenders
Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Kamala Harris of California, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts held noticeable leads over Trump in the poll, with Sanders up by 9 percentage points, Harris leading by 8 and Warren ahead by 7.
Additionally, Democratic candidates South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey also lead Trump by 5%, respectively, with each candidate receiving a 47% to 42% advantage. Trump failed to break as high as 42% against the challengers, according to the poll.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters Tuesday that they are not concerned by the numbers at this time, citing Trump’s upset victory over Democratic favorite Hillary Clinton nearly four years ago.
“I think the polling got it completely wrong in 2016, I don’t think it’s right now,” she said. “I’m not going to get into a lot of details, but we feel incredibly good about what the president has been able to accomplish.”
The Quinnipiac poll also found Biden being 30% ahead of his Democratic challengers, down 5% since mid-May. Biden reached as high as 38% in a poll shortly before announcing his candidacy in late April.
The poll also said that Biden still maintains a double-digit lead over the closest Democratic contender Sanders, who has 19%. A surging Warren is at 15%, up 2% from May.
Buttigieg is at 8%, a 3% spike from May, followed by Harris at 7%.
Trump’s Approval Rating Climbs
The Quinnipiac poll also said Trump’s job approval rating climbed to 42%, a figure Malloy said “is nothing to sniff at. It’s one point shy of the best Quinnipiac University survey number ever for President Trump.”
And, 70% of Americans polled describe the economy as “excellent” or “good.” About 77% said their own personal financial situation is “excellent” or “good,” which is close to the all-time high of 78% surveyed in April 2018.
Yet, only 41% of voters said Trump deserves credit for the economy.
“A very sturdy economy and folks with money in the bank. That’s the magic combo the White House hopes to ride to reelection, and those numbers remain solid,” Malloy said. “But Trump does not get that much credit.”
About 41% of those polled approve of the way Trump is handling the nation’s policy toward Mexico, which the president sees as a big victory.
The Quinnipiac poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.
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