Half of Americans ‘won’t back Donald Trump’
With 99 days to go until the election, national surveys are giving Joe Biden a double-digit lead, with barely 13 per cent of voters remaining undecided.
With 99 days to go until the US presidential election, half of American voters have already decided that they will not be backing President Trump, giving him a mountain to climb in his push for re-election.
Many national surveys are giving Joe Biden, the Democratic challenger, a double-digit lead, with barely 13 per cent of voters remaining undecided, according to polling for The Wall Street Journal and NBC News.
Mr Trump’s polarising presidency seems to have squeezed the pool of voters who can be persuaded to switch to his camp during the intense final three months of a campaign that is expected to be the most expensive and one of the most aggressive in American history.
He won in 2016 by targeting voters in Rust Belt areas that have suffered significant industrial decline in recent years, promising jobs and curbs on immigration and globalisation. He was able to grab five states that had backed Barack Obama four years earlier but local polling suggests that he now lags behind by large margins in Michigan and Pennsylvania, mirroring a shift in other battleground states.
Registered voters nationally were backing Mr Biden over Mr Trump by 51 per cent to 40 per cent, the WSJ/NBC poll found, in line with several other recent surveys.
Mr Trump, 74, and his campaign team dismiss the research carried out for mainstream media outlets as “suppression polling” designed to demoralise his support base. They insist that there is a “silent majority” who will not disclose their pro-Trump intentions to pollsters but will vote for the incumbent on the day.
Jeff Horwitt, a Democratic pollster who compiled the latest figures with a Republican colleague, was sceptical. He told The Wall Street Journal: “Right now Trump’s down 11 points. This is a group he’s got to run the table with. He’s got to win all of them.”
The poll ratings did not go down well with the president, who, as is usual, quickly fired off a response on Twitter. “The Trump Campaign has more ENTHUSIASM, according to many, than any campaign in the history of our great Country – Even more than 2016,” he wrote. “Biden has NONE! The Silent Majority will speak on NOVEMBER THIRD!!! Fake Suppression Polls & Fake News will not save the Radical Left.”
The Trump Campaign has more ENTHUSIASM, according to many, than any campaign in the history of our great Country - Even more than 2016. Biden has NONE! The Silent Majority will speak on NOVEMBER THIRD!!! Fake Suppression Polls & Fake News will not save the Radical Left.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2020
The polling identified the crucial undecided voter as predominantly male, conservative-leaning and younger; one reason why Mr Trump may have chosen the laddish Barstool Sports website for an interview released late on Friday. He told the outlet: “The best day in my life in terms of business and life and everything, was the day before I announced I’m running for president. Now I’m really glad I did but I was treated very unfairly.”
The Trump campaign is aiming to repeat what it did in 2016 and pull off an unlikely victory by luring Americans who do not usually vote.
The campaign was embarrassed at the weekend by a demand from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute that it stop raising cash by using the late president’s name and likeness. That was in response to a fundraising email seeking a $45 donation for limited-edition coins, sent to supporters from “Donald J Trump” with the subject line “Ronald Reagan and Yours Truly”.
The commemorative set featured two gold-colour coins, one with an image of Mr Reagan and the other of Mr Trump, mounted with a 1987 photograph of a handshake at the White House.
“WOW, these coins are beautiful – I took one look and immediately knew that I wanted YOU to have a set,” the email declared.
The offer was for “my TOP SUPPORTERS ONLY”. It continued: “These aren’t any ordinary coins. They symbolise an important time in our Nation. I’ve authorised a very limited production of these iconic coins.”
Michael Ahrens, communications director for the Republican National Committee, which had backed the promotion, said: “Given that the Reagan Foundation just recently hosted the Trump family to raise money for its organisation and has not objected to us using President Reagan’s likeness before, their objection came as a surprise. Even though we believe our use of the image was appropriate, we will stop emailing this fundraising solicitation as a courtesy.”
Mr Trump is locked in battle with some Republicans on Capitol Hill over the latest coronavirus relief legislation. He has backed down over demands for a payroll tax cut but arguments continue to rage over what should be in the bill, with the $600-a-week support payments for laid-off workers due to expire this week.
Mr Biden, 77, had his own problems in Florida at the weekend, with 94 field organisers sending a letter of complaint to the state Democratic Party claiming that his campaign was “suppressing the Hispanic vote” and mistreating staff.
The letter, leaked to the Miami Herald, alleged that the campaign arbitrarily relocated staff members after several Puerto Rican organisers were allegedly moved from a heavily Puerto Rican part of Florida to north Florida against their wishes.
The team “failed to confront a system of white-dominated politics we are supposed to be working against as organisers of a progressive party”, the letter stated.
The Biden campaign said negotiations were under way to try to resolve the issues raised.
Mr Biden tweeted a simple message on Sunday: “100 days.”
Folks, we have just 100 days until Election Day. Now, more than ever, we have to do everything we can to make Donald Trump a one-term president.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 26, 2020
Register to vote: https://t.co/Hy8C4mIL2M
Donate: https://t.co/Iimssjnz4A
Volunteer: https://t.co/GCxsKwFY4h
Let’s get to work. pic.twitter.com/aa1BsTsdu9
The Trump War Room Twitter account responded in the usual style of Mr Trump and his supporters, firing back: “Until you lose.”
More Coverage
Yoga, wellness and death: check into The White Lotus
The super-rich have moved on to Thailand for the third series of Mike White’s hit thriller. Its stars talk about their trip of a lifetime.
UK’s island deal to avoid ‘missile crisis’
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s deal to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is necessary to avoid setting off ‘a serious confrontation’ in the Indian Ocean, a Foreign Office minister says.