Voters would back Democrat Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a wide margin during a presidential election, according to a new poll.
A survey conducted by POLITICO and Morning Consult found that, in a hypothetical 2020 presidential election matchup, the former Vice President would draw the support of 46 percent of voters — easily eclipsing the 35 percent who said they would back Mr Trump.
Independent voters would support Mr Biden over Mr Trump by a 15-point margin, the poll found.
The poll adds another data point to the list of arguments for those urging Mr Biden to challenge the President in the next election.
After weighing a 2016 campaign at length, Mr Biden declined to run. But he is now sending signals that he might jump into the looming presidential race.
A common rationale for Mr Biden’s candidacy posits that he would do better than Democrat Hillary Clinton at winning over white working class voters whose defection to Mr Trump helped him carry typically blue states like Michigan and Wisconsin. The poll found Mr Biden and Mr Trump in a statistical tie among white voters.
The 74-year-old Mr Biden brandished that argument during an interview with NBC’s Megyn Kelly in which he did not rule out a 2020 run. Ms Kelly pointed out that “the blue-collar rust belters who you’d need to get elected already love Donald Trump”.
“They love me more,” Mr Biden replied, adding that “I understand the Rust Belt. Donald Trump has no notion what those people are going through”.
