On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal released a poll showing that Trump leads Biden in 6 of 7 swing states.
WSJ explained that its polling “shows Trump holding leads of between 2 and 8 percentage points in six states—Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina—on a test ballot that includes third-party and independent candidates” and that “Trump holds similar leads when voters are asked to choose only between him and Biden.”
Wall Street Journal
The latest WSJ poll drives home the point that Americans strongly dispute the White House’s rosy picture of the economy, and that disconnect could cost President Joe Biden heavily in November.
Former President Donald Trump leads Biden in six of seven battleground states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania – while Biden holds a narrow lead in Wisconsin according to the Journal.
Despite crippling inflation surpassing wages, a barrage of cheap labor through the southern border, and a $1 trillion dollar trade deficit on Biden’s watch, Joe Biden is attempting to convince Americans he should remain in charge. That could prove difficult.
According to the WSJ poll, only about a quarter of voters in seven battleground states say the economy has improved since 2022. What is more, only about a quarter of voters say they feel the ability for the average person to get ahead is on the right track. Far more believe it is becoming harder for middle-class Americans to advance in the modern economy.
These numbers have remained largely unchanged since November and highlight a persistent issue in Biden’s ability to court voters running on his economic record.
According to latest New Tork Times polling, Americans say by a twenty-four-point margin – 44 percent to 20 percent – that Biden’s policies have personally hurt them. The poll found nearly the opposite when voters were asked if Trump’s policies helped or hurt them, with voters saying by a fifteen-point-margin – 42 percent to 27 percent – that Trump’s policies personally helped them.
The most glaring area of concern for Biden in recent polls is his persistently low ratings among swing voters who largely favored him in 2020.
According to the Times polling, an abysmal thirteen percent of independents say Biden’s policies have personally helped them, compared to 44 percent who say the President’s policies have hurt them. This puts Biden 31 points in the negative with independents, a group he won by thirteen points in 2020.
On the flip side, independents say by an eleven-point margin – 37 percent to 26 percent – that Trump’s policies have personally helped them.
Hispanics, who make up sizeable portions of the electorate in several battleground states, also say Joe’s policies have hurt them more than helped. Hispanics say by an eighteen-point-margin – 35 percent to 17 percent – that Biden’s policies have personally hurt them but say by double digits that Trump’s policies have personally helped them. Hispanics say by twelve points – 37 percent to 25 percent – that Trump’s policies have personally helped them.
Lastly, only eleven percent of voters under 30 say Biden’s policies have helped them, while thirty-seven percent say his policies have personally hurt them, a twenty-six-point difference.
Despite the Biden Administration’s best attempt to portray the economy as improving, Americans are living in the repercussions of Biden’s betrayal of the middle class. Most Americans, including wide majorities of young people, Hispanics, and independents, believe they have been victimized by the Biden economy, and there may be payback at the ballot box this November.
Manzanita Miller is an associate analyst at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
