President Donald Trump has gained ground on former Vice President and presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in a number of recent polls, cutting Biden’s lead to three to four points nationwide.
A new poll by The Hill/HarrisX, which surveyed 2,850 respondents, shows Biden’s lead over President Trump falling from seven points in late July to three points in August.
Biden led Trump 45% to 38% in the previous survey, but now holds just a 43% to 40% lead among registered voters.
Polling by Emerson also found Trump gaining on Biden, albeit by a smaller margin.
In early June, Biden led Trump by six points, 53% to 47%.
Now, however, polling by Emerson shows Biden with a four-point lead, 50% to 46%. Trump’s approval rating, according to Emerson, increased slightly from a net negative of seven points in June (43% favorable versus 50% unfavorable) to a net negative of six points (45% favorable versus 51% unfavorable).
The Emerson poll in June was conducted among registered voters, while the August poll screened for likely voters.
The poll also found strong support for a national mandate requiring people to wear masks in public where social distancing is not possible. Sixty-seven percent of respondents said they would support such a rule, while 22% said they would oppose it.
A plurality (48%) say it would be unsafe for K-12 schools to reopen on schedule this fall, while 37% say schools should reopen on schedule.
A third poll, conducted by Rasmussen, also found Trump cutting into Biden’s lead, reducing the former Vice President’s lead from six points at the end of July to just three points in August.
Biden led Trump in late July among likely voters 48% to 42%. This week’s poll, which surveyed 2,500 likely voters, shows Biden leading 48% to 45%.
A fourth poll released in August, which was conducted by YouGov and surveyed 1,229 registered voters, found no change in the race, with Biden leading Trump by nine points, 49% to 40%.
The RealClearPolitics rolling average of polls shows Biden's lead over Trump falling from an average of 10 points in late June and 9.1 points in late July to 6.4 points.
A state poll in Maine found Trump narrowly leading in the state’s Second Congressional District.
Trump, who carried Maine’s Second Congressional District by 10 points in 2016, is leading in the district by a razor-thin one-point margin, according to a Quinnipiac poll released Thursday, 45% to 44%.
Statewide, Trump trails Biden by 15 points, 37% to 52%.
In Iowa, where Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by 9.5 points in 2016, the president leads Biden by two points, 48% to 46%, a new poll by Monmouth found.