Donald Trump holds a 3% lead over President Joe Biden in a national poll average, with one survey showing the former president has gained five points over his Democratic rival since the beginning of July.
A CBS News/YouGov poll taken between July 16 and July 18, the day Trump accepted the Republican nomination for president at the Republican National Convention, found that the former president has extended his advantage over Biden by five points: 52% to 47% since July 3 when a survey had Trump up 50% to 48%.
The RealClearPolitics' average of the polls shows Trump sitting atop a 3-point lead, which has expanded since Biden's disastrous debate performance on June 27.
In an Emerson College poll taken between July 15 and July 16, Trump leads Biden 46% to 42%.
The survey also found that the president lost 2 points to Trump since earlier this month.
The former president also leads Biden by 4 points — 46% to 42% — in a Morning Consult poll taken between July 15 and July 17.
All of the polls — which have margins of error ranging from 1 to 3 points, which could negagte Trump's lead in some surveys — were conducted after Trump escaped an assassination attempt last Saturday at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa.
"Recent polling shows Biden losing support more significantly than Trump gaining it since the attempted assassination. This raises questions about whether Biden's decline is still influenced by the debate or if Trump has reached his support ceiling," Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said in a statement.
Only one poll listed on RealClearPolitics shows Biden with a lead.
An NPR/PBS/Marist poll taken between July 9 and July 10 shows Biden ahead of Trump 50% to 48%.
The survey has a 3 percentage point margin of error.
As Trump, 78, basked in the glow and national spotlight of the Republican National Convention, Biden, 81, has been self-isolating with a bout of COVID and fighting off calls for him to step down from the campaign as more and more Democrats believe he has no path to victory in November.
The number of Democrats in Congress urging Biden to quit the race has now grown to 35, according to the Associated Press.
"There is no joy in the recognition he should not be our nominee in November," said Rep. Morgan McGarvey of Kentucky, one of the Democrats, the AP reported. "But the stakes of this election are too high and we can't risk the focus of the campaign being anything other than Donald Trump."
Several Democrats, fearful of a Trump juggernaut performance at the RNC, were relieved after his speech, which many considered too long, rambling, and the same old Trump who lost to Biden last time around.
"What the hell was he talking about?" Biden asked in a post on social media Friday, before dissecting Trump's speech point by point.
I’m stuck at home with COVID, so I had the distinct misfortune of watching Donald Trump’s speech to the RNC.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 20, 2024
What the hell was he talking about?
