New ABC Poll Has Trump, Biden in Virtual Tie

A new ABC News/Ipsos Poll shows President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are locked in a virtual tie for the presidency, with Trump edging out Biden by 2 percentage points in the overall results.

The poll of 2,200 adults shows Trump has more voters' trust in handling the issues, while Biden scored competitive points on personal attributes, ABC News reported Sunday.

Biden also edged out Trump by 49% to 45% among likely voters in the poll, which carried a margin of sampling error of 2 percentage points.

And when the race is expanded into a five-way contest, the picture did not change much, with Trump netting 42%; Biden, 40%; Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 12%; Cornel West, 2%; and Jill Stein, 1%.

Among registered voters, Biden and Trump landed in a direct tie, at 42% each, and Biden added 3 or 4 percentage points when it came to likely voters.

In other findings, Trump could face a potential risk with voters if he is convicted of a felony in his trial in New York on charges of falsifying business records to hide hush money payments. While 80% of his supporters said they'll stick with him if he's convicted, 16% said they would reconsider their support, and 4% said they'd back away, which could cause issues in the close race for the White House.

But Biden also faced significant disadvantages, particularly when it comes to his age:

81% say he's too old for another term, with Trump outpacing him on mental sharpness and physical health.
35% of Americans approve of Biden's job performance.
57% disapprove.
43% say they're worse off financially with him as president.

Trump, meanwhile, led in trust on handling 6 of 10 issues tested in the survey, compared to Biden handling just two issues better:

The economy and inflation, each with a 14-point advantage.
Crime and safety, 8 points.
Immigration, 17 points.
Handling the Israeli-Hamas war: 8 points.
Dealing with America's standing in the world, 7 points.

Biden led on abortion access by 12-point advantage and on healthcare by 5 points.

Biden also polled at about 20 points weaker among Black respondents under the age of 50 than those older than 50, but he and Trump ran almost evenly, by 42-40% among independents, the swing voters in most presidential elections.

Biden also came out 11 points higher among moderates and by 66% to 21% over Trump among those who have remained financially steady.

Meanwhile, several Americans said they don't trust either Biden or Trump to handle the key issues tested in the survey, but Biden led among those who don't trust them.

Among 14% who said they don't trust either to handle the economy, Biden had 49% support compared to 13% for Trump. Biden also led by 45 points among people who don't trust either candidate on immigration and 35 points on immigration.

The poll surveyed 2,260 adults and has a plus or minus 2% margin of error.