Former President Donald Trump, who has been indicted four times this year, is once again shocking legacy media outlets as he polls in a statistical tie with President Joe Biden.
The latest polls on a hypothetical rematch between Biden and Trump show Trump gaining ground in the past two weeks, closing the gap to just seven-tenths of a percentage point, according to the Real Clear Politics average. The latest poll from The Wall Street Journal stunned legacy news anchors and commentators, showing Biden and Trump in a dead heat at 46% each.
“It is kind of shocking in a way that despite all of the baggage that Donald Trump carries, he’s tied with Joe Biden right now,” ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos commented on the poll.
“With every passing month, with every new indictment, Donald Trump seems to be consolidating his control over the Republican Party,” Stephanopoulos added.
The WSJ poll was also a cause for concern for Biden, showing that two-thirds of Democrats believe the president is too old to run for re-election. Voters strongly disapprove of the way Biden is handling the economy, inflation, border security, and dealing with China, according to the poll. Meanwhile, Trump scored higher ratings than Biden on being “mentally up for the job,” having “a vision for the future,” and “has a strong record of accomplishments as president.” Biden received better marks than Trump on honesty and being “a likable person.”
Former Democratic Party Chair Donna Brazile was also alarmed by the WSJ survey, telling Stephanopoulos, “When I looked at that recent poll, the Wall Street Journal, I said, ‘this could keep me up at night.’”
Hosts of the Left-wing daytime talk show “The View” were also surprised by Trump’s numbers. Alyssa Farah Griffin, who worked in the Trump administration as the White House director of Strategic Communications and assistant to the president in 2020, wondered why Republicans would still support the former president despite his legal battles.
“Donald Trump is still polling near 60% in the GOP primary and I’ve been asking myself how is that possible? We’re the party of law and order and I put the blame at the feet of some of the GOP candidates running against him,” Farah Griffin said.
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Leftist host Sunny Hostin added that Trump’s tie with Biden represented a deeper problem within the GOP, accusing Trump supporters of putting “power before country” and “party before country.”
Trump’s numbers against Biden aren’t exclusive to the WSJ poll. Polls conducted at the end of August by the Economist/YouGov, Morning Consult, Emerson, and the Messenger/HarrisX show Biden up by a single percentage point or Trump leading the race. With the latest polls factored into the RCP average, Biden stands at 44.7% to Trump’s 44.0%.
Trump has also held his massive lead in the Republican primary, staying above 50%, according to Real Clear Politics and FiveThirtyEight. GOP candidates haven’t moved much since last week’s report on the RCP average as they try to chase Trump for the Republican nomination.
The former president’s closest GOP challenger, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, marked a slight rebound in the latest polls following his performance at the first GOP presidential debate. DeSantis, now at 14.8%, remains the only other Republican candidate in double digits.