Staggering New York Times Poll Has Trump Up 6 Points on Biden Nationally

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Former President and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has established a six-point national lead over President Joe Biden in the wake of their debate last week, according to a new New York Times /Siena College poll conducted between June 28 and July 2.

The survey of 1,532 Americans found that Trump boasts a 49%-43% lead over Biden with likely voters and an even more impressive 49%-41% lead among registered voters. It reflects Trump’s best showing ever in a Times poll.

A staggering 74% of voters say Biden is too old for the job, and even Democrats expressed considerable concern over Biden’s ability to do the job. Seventy-seven percent of Democrats under the age of 45 believe he is too old to be effective as commander-in-chief, and even 49% of those older than 45 agree.

From the Times ‘ write-up of its survey:

Mr. Biden faces other headwinds beyond his age.

The economy and inflation were the top issues for voters in the Times /Siena surveys both before and after the debate, and Mr. Trump is winning voters who prioritize those issues overwhelmingly.

Also, by a wide margin, voters look back more fondly on Mr. Trump’s time in office than Mr. Biden’s. Just 34 percent said Mr. Biden made the country better, while 47 percent said the same about Mr. Trump’s tenure. And for almost every demographic group, more voters said Mr. Biden had made the country worse rather than better. Black voters were the biggest exception.

A majority of voters, 50 percent to 39 percent, said Mr. Trump would best handle whatever issue they felt was the most important one facing the country.

The poll was conducted via telephone calls using live interviewers and carries a margin of error of 2.8%. Around the same time that its results became public on Wednesday afternoon, Biden announced he would be staying in the race until the bitter end on a campaign conference call.