Biden, four others, ahead of Trump in 2020 polls
WASHINGTON A nationwide Fox News poll released on Sunday showed President Donald Trump trailing former Vice President Joe Biden and no fewer than four other Democratic contenders as early campaigning for the 2020 election begins to gain steam.
A separate survey of key battleground states, by CBS, shows Democrats strongly favour Mr Biden as the candidate most likely to beat Mr Trump in next year's elections.
While the latest polling news proved heartening to Democrats, the Trump re-election campaign reportedly has cut ties to three of its own pollsters after some of their results - showing Mr Trump trailing far behind Mr Biden in key states - leaked.
The Fox poll showed Mr Biden leading Mr Trump by 49 per cent to 39 per cent among all registered voters nationwide, while Senator Bernie Sanders held nearly the same advantage over the President, at 49 per cent to 40 per cent.
Holding edges of 1 or 2 points over Mr Trump - albeit within the poll's three-point margin of error - were senators Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, as well as Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana.
The polling comes more than 500 days before the Nov 3 election next year, an eternity in the political world. One widely viewed tweet this week shows five presidential candidates in recent decades who trailed at this point in their campaigns - including Mr Trump - but who went on to win.
The President does not officially launch his re-election campaign until today, when he plans an elaborate, rally-style event in a huge arena in Orlando, Florida.
Still, the Fox poll, conducted June 9 to June 12, was welcomed by Democrats eager to chip away at Mr Trump's popularity.
The President's campaign had recently dismissed leaked data from its own pollsters showing Mr Biden with double-digit leads in some critically important states, including Florida, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - three states Mr Trump won in 2016.
Mr Trump himself denied the data - "those polls don't exist," he told ABC - but his campaign later acknowledged the negative news while discounting it as "ancient" because it dated from March.
- AFP
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