Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is leading President Donald Trump in Florida and Pennsylvania – two key battleground states – according to a New York Times/Siena College poll released Saturday.
Forty-seven percent of likely Florida voters and 49% of likely Pennsylvania voters support Biden, while 42% of likely voters in both states support Trump.
Saturday’s poll showed a three-percentage-point gain for Trump in Pennsylvania and one-point gain in Florida since a June New York Times/Siena College poll.
Both battleground states went to Trump in the 2016 election with a margin of less then 2%, after both states went to former President Barack Obama in 2012. Before 2016, the last time a Republican presidential candidate won Pennsylvania was 1988. The last time a Republican won the White House without Florida was 1924.
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Trump made his fourth and fifth visit to Pennsylvania in September while Biden visited the state four times that month.
Fifty-two percent of likely Florida voters and 55% of likely Pennsylvania voters said they disapprove of the way Trump is handling his job as president.
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Voters were also asked about the candidates’ performance during Tuesday’s debate. Sixty-four percent of likely Florida voters at least somewhat disapproved of the way Trump conducted himself during the debate, compared to the 39% of voters who disapproved of Biden’s performance.
Fifty-eight percent of likely Pennsylvania voters disapproved of Trump’s behavior during the debate while 35% of likely voters disapproved of Biden’s behavior.
The debate was called a “hot mess inside a dumpster fire” by CNN’s Jake Tapper, after 90 minutes of nonstop interruption and insults.
More:Trump-Biden brawl in Cleveland prompts debate commission to consider format changes
While voters in both states named Biden the winner of the debate over Trump (35% -18% among likely Pennsylvania voters and 39%-24% among likely Florida voters) many voters (37% in Florida and 47% in Pennsylvania) didn’t know or refused to answer.
Nearly half of likely voters in the two battleground states who watched the debate said that they support Trump’s candidacy less than before.
The poll surveyed 710 likely Florida voters and 706 likely Pennsylvania voters between Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. The margin of error for the polls are plus or minus 4.1 and 4.2 percentage points, respectively.
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