Biden makes major gains with crucial voting group ahead of 1st debate with Trump: poll
President Biden has made major gains with independent voters less than two weeks ahead of the first presidential debate in Atlanta with former President Trump.
President Biden has significantly improved his standing with independent voters, a group crucial to winning in key battleground states this November, a new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll has found less than 10 days from the first presidential debate.
Biden overcame a 12-percentage point deficit among independents and now leads Trump 50%-48% with the group compared to a previous NPR/PBS News/ Marist poll taken in May.
Trump, however, maintains a slight one percentage point lead (50%-49%) in a head-to-head matchup among voters who say they definitely plan to vote in the November general election, but the two are tied 49%-49% among overall registered voters, including those who say they are undecided but are leaning toward a candidate.
Trump's overall lead over Biden stays at one percentage point (42%-41%) with the inclusion of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (11%) and Dr. Cornel West (3%), as well as Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein (1%) and Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver (1%).
White voters favor Trump 55%-43%, while non-White voters favor Biden 58%-40%. The two are tied at 50% each with voters under the age of 45, but Trump holds a slight advantage (49%-48%) with voters over the age of 45.
Voters believe Trump would better handle the economy (54%-45%), immigration (54%-44%) and the U.S. role on the world stage (50%-49%). They believe Biden would better handle preserving democracy (52%-46%) and abortion (54%-42%). They also believe he cares more about the average person (50%-46%).
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Inflation is viewed as the top issue by a plurality (30%) of voters, followed by democracy (29%), immigration (18%), healthcare (8%), abortion (8%) and crime (6%).
A majority of 55% say they are not satisfied with either Trump or Biden as the candidates in the race, but more Biden voters (58%) than Trump voters (49%) specifically say they are not satisfied.
Biden's favorability stands at 41% with 53% viewing him unfavorably. His approval rating matches.
Trump similarly holds underwater favorability ratings, with just 42% viewing him favorably and 53% unfavorably. Concerning his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records last month, 51% believe he should definitely or probably serve jail time, but 47% say he should definitely or probably not serve jail time.
Trump and Biden will meet on an Atlanta stage for the first time in years on June 27 in a debate hosted by CNN.