Fox News poll: Biden opens up 8-point lead over Trump

A new Fox News poll finds former Vice President Joe Biden leading President Trump by 8 points nationally, with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee opening up wide leads among independents and older voters who broke for Trump in 2016.

The survey released Thursday finds Biden at 48 percent support and Trump at 40 percent, with 11 percent undecided or saying they’ll support someone else. Trump and Biden were knotted at 42 percent in the same survey last month.

Biden leads by 17 points among voters aged 65 and older and by 13 points among independents.

Exit polls found older voters going for Trump by 7 points in 2016. Trump also won independents by 4 points.

Some Democrats have worried about polling that shows Biden facing an enthusiasm gap, but the Fox news survey found that Biden leads 53 percent to 41 among voters who say they’re extremely motivated to vote in November.

Sixty-nine percent of Biden’s supporters described themselves as extremely motivated, compared to 61 percent of Trump’s supporters.

The poll found a massive gender gap, with Biden leading by 20 points among women and Trump leading by 7 points among men.

The president has a 30-point lead among rural white voters, while Biden has a 64-point lead among black voters.

Trump’s favorability rating is underwater by 12 points, at 43 percent positive and 55 percent negative. Biden’s favorability rating is positive by 2 points, at 48 percent favorable and 46 percent unfavorable.

Trump has a narrow edge on who voters trust the most on the economy, leading Biden 45 percent to 42 percent.

Still, pessimism about the economy is soaring, with 78 percent saying it’s in bad shape — a 34-point jump since January, before the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S.

Biden leads Trump by 9 points on the question of who is better suited to handle the pandemic, and he leads by 17 points on the issue of health care.

By a 6-point margin, voters prefer Biden over Trump when it comes to dealing with China.

The Trump campaign has made China a central focus of its campaign, arguing that Biden would be weak against Beijing.

The Fox News survey of 1,207 registered voters nationwide was conducted between May 17 and 20 and has a 2.5 point margin of error.