Biden leads Trump in early 2020 match-up, poll

Former Vice President Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump by 7 percentage points in a head-to-head match-up, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.

A plurality of registered voters, 44 percent, said they’d choose Biden in the 2020 presidential election, while 37 percent of voters said they would vote for Trump.

The percentage of Democrats who would choose Biden — 80 percent — was slightly higher than the 78 percent of Republicans who would vote for the president‘s reelection. The former vice president, who ran for the White House in 1988 and 2008, has been floated as a 2020 contender, and Biden himself has said he’s not ruling out a third try.

Morning Consult surveyed 1,993 registered voters from July 26 to July 30 for its newest poll released Wednesday.

Biden holds a less-than-commanding position within his own party: Among Democrats, an unnamed generic Democrat runs 9 points better than Biden in a match-up with Trump. “Notably, 89 percent of Democrats say they would vote for a generic Democrat over Trump, but only 80 percent of Democrats say they prefer Biden over Trump,” said Morning Consult Managing Director Tyler Sinclair.

The poll also found bipartisan support for Trump’s promise to send aid to American farmers impacted by his retaliatory tariffs. Fifty-seven percent of voters overall approve the strategy — more than twice as many as disapprove (26 percent). Among Republicans, 79 percent said they support Trump’s aid to farmers, compared to 48 percent of Democrats.

“President Trump’s decision to provide aid to farmers hurt by the trade war is a hugely popular move with rural voters,” Sinclair said. “Sixty-three percent of rural voters support the assistance. Additionally, 30 percent of this group ‘strongly’ approve of Trump’s job performance overall.”

When it comes to trade policy, close to one-third of all voters, 31 percent, say the United States has benefited less than other countries on free trade, while 26 percent say the country has benefited the same as other countries and 12 percent say the U.S. has benefited more.

POLITICO