New poll shows Biden lagging behind Trump in presidential race

Shafaq News / A new opinion poll conducted by The New York Times on Saturday revealed a decline in President Joe Biden's prospects against his potential rival Donald Trump in the upcoming US presidential elections scheduled for November.

This comes just days before crucial milestones in the primary election season for the Democratic and Republican parties.

The poll, conducted by The New York Times and Siena College among 980 registered voters, showed that 48% of them would choose Trump, compared to only 43% for Biden if the elections were held today.

The survey comes days before "Super Tuesday", which witnesses primary elections in more than ten states and is expected to decisively determine Trump's lead in the race for the Republican Party nomination over his sole competitor, Nikki Haley.

The poll found that Democrat Biden is struggling, despite several positive economic indicators, to convince Americans that his policies benefit them.

Only one in four voters believe the country is heading in the right direction, while more than double that percentage feels that Biden's policies have harmed them rather than helped them.

The survey also showed a decline in support for Biden among voter demographics that traditionally leaned towards Democrats, such as workers and non-white voters.

While Trump has managed to significantly unify his base, with 97% of those who voted for him in 2020 pledging to do so again this year, only 83% of those who voted for Biden in 2020 committed to voting for him again. Additionally, 10% of his 2020 voters expressed support for Trump now.

Trump is running for re-election while facing 91 criminal charges, and it is expected that at least one of his four trials will begin before the scheduled election day on November 5th.

Analysts believe that Trump's dominance in the Republican primaries conceals strong opposition to his nomination among moderate Republicans and independents, whose votes are needed to defeat Biden.

According to the poll, the number of undecided Biden voters who may find themselves compelled to vote for him due to the reluctance to see Trump return to the White House remains unclear.