Former President Donald Trump is leading President Joe Biden in five of the six key swing states that decided the 2020 election, according to a new poll from The New York Times and Siena College.
The poll, conducted from October 22 to November 3 among more than 3,000 registered voters, shows Trump ahead of Biden in Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, all of which Biden won in 2020. Biden has a slight edge over Trump in Wisconsin, the only state where he is ahead.
The poll also reveals a high level of dissatisfaction with Biden’s performance as president, with only 38% of voters in these six states approving of his job, and 71% saying he is “too old” to be president. Trump, who is only four years younger than Biden, fares better on this question, with only 39% of voters saying he is “too old”.
On the issues, voters trust Trump more than Biden on the economy, immigration, national security, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but trust Biden more on abortion, with a close split on handling democracy.
The poll suggests that Biden is not the most electable Democrat against Trump, as he trails the former president by five points, while Vice President Kamala Harris trails by only three points. A generic, unnamed Democrat leads Trump by eight points, indicating that Biden’s personal weaknesses are hurting his chances of reelection.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 to 4.8 percentage points, depending on the state, and does not account for potential changes in the political landscape over the next year. However, it does indicate that Trump remains a formidable challenger to Biden, despite his legal troubles and his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.