Are Trump and Biden heading for a 'near-tie' situation in presidential polls?
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The COVID-19 pandemic has killed over 1000 people in the United States
A poll undertaken by The Washington Post in collaboration with ABC claims that Donald Trump is almost at a “near tie” situation against his Democrat contender in the upcoming US presidential elections, Joe Biden.
The poll, which was released yesterday, put Biden ahead by 49 per cent while Trump’s vote share jumped to 47 per cent from 40 per cent in February.
The COVID-19 pandemic has killed over 1000 people in the United States. Trump has continuously put the economy before the pandemic, for which many people have blamed him.
On the other hand, people favoured Biden for his policies on healthcare.
“[The poll] tests only national sentiment, which would translate into the popular vote, not the state-by-state competition for an electoral college majority”, The Washington Post declared.
As was witnessed in 2016, Hillary Clinton had an edge of over three million votes against Trump, but owing to his victory in the electoral college, he was able to become the president.
According to critics, Biden has not shown interest in curbing coronavirus.
The politician has responded to accusations.
“I’m chomping at the bit,” Biden told reporters on video call. “I wish I were still in the Senate, you know, being able to impact on some things. But I am where I am”, he added, reflecting on his inability to help.
However, many users on Twitter felt that it was the responsibility of not Biden, but of Trump to respond to the pandemic, especially now considering that the US has registered more cases than any country in the world, even surpassing China and Italy.
The US is now being referred to as the third epicentre of the contagion.
“Almost nothing about what Joe Biden is doing for the next few weeks is gonna matter much for November. And almost everything about what Donald Trump is doing is going to matter a lot”, tweeted Nate Silver, a polling professional.
Earlier, Donald Trump had suggested quarantining New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. However, after NYC’s governor said that any such order would be akin to a “federal declaration of war”, Trump was forced to back off.
The primary fight within the Democratic party is about Biden and Bernie Sanders.
Another poll by the Washington Post and ABC predicted an edge of 55 per cent for Biden against Sanders.
However, owing to the pandemic, the election process has been halted. The number of cases continue to rise in the US, with Trump making a bizarre statement today on how 100,000 deaths would mean the situation was “under control”.