Biden ahead of Trump on law and order in Wisconsin in new Fox News poll

New polling data collected after party conventions and unrest in Kenosha shows more trust in former VP on policing and criminal justice

As Joe Biden visits Wisconsin on Thursday in the shadow of the unrest following the shooting by police of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, a new poll of the state shows the Democrat leading president Donald Trump on issues pertaining to policing and criminal justice.

The Fox News survey sees former vice president Biden leading Trump by eight points overall among likely voters in Wisconsin at 50-42 per cent — just outside the margin of error.

Mr Biden is trusted by more voters on the two issues dominating the campaign at this stage — the coronavirus pandemic, and policing and criminal justice. He leads the president by a 17-point margin on the former (52-35 per cent), and has a five point lead on the latter (47-42 per cent).

The president visited Kenosha on Tuesday. He did not meet with the Blake family as Mr Biden did, and has not condemned the actions of Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenage gunman who shot dead two protesters last week.

This latest poll was conducted between 29 August and 1 September, after both the Democrat and Republican conventions, and after the shooting of Jacob Blake and the unrest and deaths of the two protesters.

On the coronavirus, respondents that felt the pandemic is “not at all” under control favoured Mr Biden 84-10 per cent over the president.

Trump won Wisconsin by just 23,000 ballots in 2016 with 47 per cent of the vote, securing its 10 Electoral College electors.

In 2020, the poll suggests that it is women swinging heavily towards the Democrat that may make the difference — they prefer Mr Biden by 17 percentage points, while men are split evenly between the two candidates.

The same poll conducted statewide surveys Arizona and North Carolina, both of are battleground states and which could prove crucial in November.

Support for Trump falls below his 2016 share of the vote in each state. In Arizona, Biden leads Trump 49-40 per cent, and in North Carolina by 50-46 per cent, though that is within the margin of error.

Arizonans also trust Biden to better handle policing and criminal justice issues 47-42 per cent; but North Carolinians split almost evenly at 46-47 per cent, slightly in favour of the president.