Monmouth acknowledges poll showing Biden losing support was ‘outlier’

Monmouth University acknowledged Wednesday that a poll released this week showing former Vice President Joe Biden’s support dropping by 13 percent was an “outlier.”

Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University poll, said the result was the “product of the uncertainty that is inherent in the polling process” and that the survey’s particular issue “occurs very infrequently.”{mosads}

“In the end, we must put out the numbers we have,” Murray said in a statement. “They should always be viewed in the context of what other polls are saying, not only as it applies to the horse race, but also for our understanding of the issues that motivate voters in their decision-making process.”

Statement from poll director @PollsterPatrick regarding this week’s poll: pic.twitter.com/n4aZibDUej

— MonmouthPoll (@MonmouthPoll) August 28, 2019

Monday’s poll was the sixth national survey conducted by Monmouth University, which has an A-plus rating from the website FiveThirtyEight. Murray said the demographic and ideological profiles of its Democratic voter sample were “nearly identical” to its past polls and there were no other signs to “suggest that this sample was unusual.”

The survey interviewed 298 registered voters who identify as Democrats or Democratic-leaning from Aug. 16 to 20 and had a margin of error of 5.7 percentage points.

The poll released Monday garnered national headlines after showing a sharp slide for Biden and a virtual three-way tie between the former vice president and Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Biden had consistently led in other national and statewide primary polling, though his advantage has shrunk in recent months.

The poll showed a particularly stark drop for Biden among Democrats who identify as either moderate or conservative, seeing his backing fall from 40 percent in June to 22 percent among a group that the former vice president is hoping will come out in force in the primary race.

Biden’s campaign was quick to underline Murray’s new statement, saying it supported their earlier claims that the Monday poll was an outlier.

“‘It is clear that the Monmouth University Poll published Monday is an outlier.’ <—- like we said it was. I hope networks cover this statement as aggressively as they covered the outlier poll,” Biden Senior Adviser Symone Sanders tweeted.

“It is clear that the Monmouth University Poll published Monday is an outlier.” <—- like we said it was. I hope networks cover this statement as aggressively as they covered the outlier poll. https://t.co/J7511HKv16

— Symone D. Sanders (@SymoneDSanders) August 28, 2019