Poll: Biden holds 11-point lead over Trump

Former Vice President Joe Biden leads President Trump by double digits in the race for the White House, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday. 

The poll shows Biden with an 11-point advantage over Trump in a national head-to-head match-up. Fifty percent of those surveyed said they currently plan on voting for the former vice president, while 39 percent said they would vote for Trump. 

A survey conducted last month by Quinnipiac University showed a slightly tighter race, with Biden taking 49 percent and Trump notching 41 percent. 

Trump’s dip in the support tracks with waning voter approval of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Forty-one percent of respondents said they approve of the job he’s doing to combat the outbreak, down from 46 percent in April. 

Meanwhile, the number of voters who disapprove of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic rose to 56 percent from 51 percent last month.

The president’s overall job approval is in decline, as well, falling to 42 percent from 45 percent in April. 

“What does the 11 point Biden lead tell us? At best for Team Trump, it says voter confidence in President Trump is shaky,” Tim Malloy, a polling analyst at Quinnipiac University, said. “At worst for them, as coronavirus cases rise, Trump’s judgement is questioned — and November looms.”

The poll is the latest evidence that Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has put his reelection in jeopardy ahead of November. At the same time, the president’s strongest argument for another term — a strong economy — has largely disintegrated as the outbreak has caused businesses to shutter and the unemployment rate to skyrocket.

Still, half of those surveyed in the Quinnipiac poll said they approve of Trump’s handling of the economy — roughly on par with the 51 percent approval he carried in the university’s April poll. The number of voters who disapprove ticked up slightly from 44 percent to 47 percent.

There’s also no consensus on which candidate is better equipped to manage the U.S. economy; 48 percent of respondents chose Biden and 47 percent chose Trump, according to the poll. That still signals an upward trend for Biden, who in last month’s poll trailed Trump 44 percent to 49 percent.

The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,323 self-identified registered voters by phone from May 14 to 18. It has a margin of error of 2.7 percentage points.