The race for the White House is in full swing. US President Donald Trump has unleashed scathing attacks suggesting Joe Biden’s America would be lawless if he became President next year. So far, Trump’s law and order attacks have failed to totally cancel out the Democratic nominee’s lead in four key swing states.
After Trump’s onslaught of attacks, Biden still leads in the swing states of Nevada, New Hampshire, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Polls show that President Trump has improved his standing in Wisconsin by appealing to right-leaning voters unhappy with the local unrest after the shooting of Jacob Blake. However, Biden still leads by five percentage points, despite it being a state Trump won in 2016.
“Biden would do a better job”
Since the murder of George Floyd by Minnesota police, America has seen protesting and riots calling to put an end to institutional racism within America’s police. The protests have seen violent clashes. Namely between Black Lives Matter protesters and right-wing militias acting in the name of the President.
The conflicts have resulted in severe damage to buildings throughout the US. Trump has been using those scenes as examples of the America we would see under Joe Biden. Despite this, a New York Times poll shows that likely voters in Minnesota and Wisconsin believe that Biden would do a better job than the President when it comes to law and order as well as managing the coronavirus pandemic.
Critics of Trump argue that the incumbent’s law and order attracts serve only as a smoke-screen, to distract voters from what has been a damaging couple of weeks. He has so far failed to disprove reports that he called soldiers who die in war as “losers” and “suckers”. Furthermore, it has been reported he told journalist Bob Woodward he deliberately misled the public about the severity of Covid19.
Trump attempted to defend these claims in Michigan recently, by comparing himself to Winston Churchill. He said: “As the British government advised the British people in the face of World War II, ‘Keep calm and carry on.’ That’s what I did”. He later added that “Churchill, a great leader, would oftentimes go to a roof in London and speak. And he always spoke with calmness. He said we have to show calmness.”
“A considerable drop from the 11-point advantage Biden had in June”
In Wisconsin, the Biden lead is currently 48% to Trump’s 43%. Third-party candidates and undecided voters make up the other 9%. This is a considerable drop from the 11-point advantage Biden had in June polls. Biden’s Minnesota lead sits much higher at 50% to 41%, though no Republican nominee has won Minnesota since Richard Nixon in 1972.
Nevada and New Hampshire are smaller states in the electoral college, but it is the battles in those states that could make them key in deciding the election. Biden’s lead in Nevada and New Hampshire sits at 46% to 42% and 45% to 42% respectively.
Polls often narrow as we get closer to Election Day. President Trump gaining on Biden will bring back bad memories for the Democrats, because Trump managed to overcome Hillary Clinton’s huge lead in the polls in 2016.