Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden leads President Trump by 3 points in a new national survey that found Biden’s favorability rating decline amid an uptick in media coverage of Tara Reade’s allegation of assault.
The latest Morning Consult survey finds Biden at 45 percent support nationally, against 42 percent for Trump. A Morning Consult-Politico poll conducted in mid-April found Biden ahead by 8 points, but other recent surveys taken in May have put his lead in the 3 to 4 point range. Biden leads Trump by 4.4 points in the RealClearPolitics average of polls.
The closer race nationally comes as Biden has seen a 5 point drop in net favorability since the same poll conducted in late April.
In the latest poll, 43 percent of voters said they have a favorable view of Biden, compared to 48 percent who view him negatively.
Among women, Biden’s net favorability rating slid by 6 points since April, to 44 percent positive and 46 negative. This is the first time the Morning Consult survey has found Biden underwater among women.
Reade’s allegations received a burst of media attention in late April when one of her former neighbors came forward to say that Reade told her about the allegation of assault at the time.
Biden denies the allegation and top Democrats have rallied behind him, saying they do not believe Reade’s claims are true.
About two out of three voters said they’d seen or heard about Reade’s allegations.
Biden still has a better favorability rating than Trump, who is viewed positively by 44 percent of voters and negatively by 53 percent. Women support Biden over Trump by 8 points in the poll.
Among voters who view both Trump and Biden unfavorably, Biden leads 46 to 14, with 41 percent undecided.
The Morning Consult online survey of 27,754 registered voters was conducted from May 4 to May 10 and has a 1 percentage point margin of error.