First Lady Jill Biden was interviewed by CBS anchor Tony Dokoupil on Wednesday morning, where she discussed her husband’s upcoming 2024 campaign and the current state of the polls.
After highlighting the National Teacher of the Year winner, Jill briefly touched on the 2024 election, stating that it is a choice between “chaos” and “steady, wisdom, experience.” She also confidently predicted that her husband, President Joe Biden, will be re-elected.
However, Dokoupil challenged her statement, bringing up the recent Wall Street Journal poll that shows President Biden trailing behind former President Donald Trump in six out of seven key battleground states. The only state in which Biden and Trump are tied is Wisconsin. Dokoupil pointed out that the poll results show that Biden is currently losing in the battleground states, while Jill interjected and defended her husband, saying that he is actually “coming up” in the polls.
Despite Jill’s statement, the data from the WSJ poll is clear – Trump is leading in the battleground states, with the exception of Wisconsin. In Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, Trump has a lead over Biden, albeit slim in some states. This is a consistent trend that has been seen in other recent polls as well. The only state where Biden and Trump are tied is Wisconsin.
It is unclear why Jill Biden denied that President Biden is losing in the polls. Perhaps she was not aware of the WSJ poll or other recent polls that have shown similar results. However, it is not a new phenomenon that Biden has been trailing behind Trump in the polls. This has been the case since the beginning of the 2024 campaign.
The reason why the battleground state polls receive so much attention is because these states are considered critical to winning the White House. In 2020, Biden won six out of the seven battleground states, with the exception of North Carolina, which he lost to Trump. This means that whoever wins the majority of these states in the upcoming election will likely be the overall winner. Therefore, it is not a winning strategy for Biden to be trailing behind Trump in these states.
It should be noted that poll numbers can change as the election approaches and campaigns ramp up. However, it is significant that Biden has consistently been behind Trump in the polls in these key states. This could potentially indicate a weakness in his campaign, as well as Trump’s continued popularity within these areas.
In addition to the poll numbers, Dokoupil also brought up the skepticism surrounding Jill’s statement that Biden will win the election once people “focus in” and see their two choices. It is unclear what evidence or data Jill is referencing to make this statement. However, it could be interpreted as spin or optimism on her part to downplay her husband’s current standings in the polls.
As the 2024 election draws closer, it will be interesting to see how the polls continue to fluctuate and whether or not Biden is able to gain ground in the battleground states. For now, the data shows that Trump is leading in most of these states and it remains to be seen how Biden’s campaign will address this challenge in the coming months.
