President Joe Biden and his team are in denial about polling numbers showing Biden trailing former President Donald Trump across several key swing states, people familiar with the matter told Axios.
In the latest poll data, a New York Times/Siena College survey published Monday shows Trump is ahead of Biden across Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by as much as 13 points. While the president publicly voices his disbelief in the polls, the president and his advisers privately don’t believe them either, Axios reported. (RELATED: Biden Struggling In Polls Despite Millions In Ad Spending)
“While the press doesn’t write about it, the momentum is clearly in our favor, with the polls moving towards us and away from Trump,” the president told donors during a California campaign event in May.
There are some national polls that show the president leading Trump, figures that Biden likes to reference and appears to study closely, Axios reported. One of those polls is an April 2024 PBS/Marist survey that puts Biden three points ahead of Trump.
“We run strongest among likely voters in the polling data,” Biden told donors at a Saturday event. “And while the national polls basically have us (among) registered voters up by four, (among) likely voters we’re up by more.”
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks with supporters and volunteers attending a Biden campaign training event at the Carpenters and Joiners Local 445 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S., April 16, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
While unbelievable to the team, the president and his advisers are growing more frustrated with the polling behind closed doors, several people in his orbit told The New York Times. With several months until Election Day, the Biden campaign is still remaining optimistic about their abilities to turn the polling around, the NYT reported.
“The only consistency in recent public polls is inconsistency,” Geoff Garin, a Biden campaign pollster, told reporters, according to the outlet.
An aide walks with baggage to put on the helicopter before U.S. President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden depart for a weekend visit to Camp David from the White House in Washington, U.S. July 14, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is flanked by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and White House Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall, during a meeting with Mexico’s Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena at the State Department in Washington, U.S., January 19, 2024. REUTERS/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre listens as White House national security communications adviser John Kirby answers a question during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 15, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
“This campaign is not arguing for the status quo,” Molly Murphy, a Biden campaign pollster, told the NYT. “The most important piece is acknowledging that people are still feeling frustrated and behind, and that the problems and the struggles that people are facing were not caused by this president and in fact have been alleviated” by Biden.
The Biden campaign has had success fundraising throughout the 2024 election cycle. The president has held several glitzy fundraisers and is poised to host a major event in California with former President Barack Obama, George Clooney and Julia Roberts, a campaign official told NBC News. Later in the summer, Biden is reportedly planning to host a fundraiser with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton.
“This election will be close like all presidential races are. What matters is which candidate has a popular and winning agenda, and which candidate and their campaign are putting in the work to reach the voters who will decide this election,” Kevin Munoz, a spokesperson for the Biden campaign, told Axios. “That candidate is Joe Biden.”