Joe Biden opens up biggest national poll lead over Trump since securing nomination as independents abandon president

Voters now give Biden a slight lead over Trump in who would better handle the economy

Joe Biden has opened up his biggest poll lead over Donald Trump since securing the nomination, with a new nationwide survey showing him with a 15-point advantage in the race for the White House.

Registered voters back the former vice president over the incumbent 52 – 37 per cent, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released on Wednesday. The same poll one month ago gave Mr Biden a lead of eight points, 49 – 41 per cent.

The poll suggested that independent voters were behind the shift. Back in June, independent voters were split nearly evenly between the two – now Mr Biden leads 51 – 34 per cent.

“Yes, there’s still 16 weeks until Election Day, but this is a very unpleasant real-time look at what the future could be for President Trump. There is no upside, no silver lining, no encouraging trend hidden somewhere in this survey for the president,” said Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy.

The poll surveyed 1,273 self-identified registered voters nationwide between 9 –13 July, with a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.

Perhaps the standout figure from the poll is that Mr Biden now leads Mr Trump on the public’s opinion of who would better handle the economy. The poll found that Mr Biden leads 50 - 45 per cent, a reversal of a June survey when Mr Trump led 51 – 46 percent.

Mr Trump’s fortunes have continued to slide as the public has soured on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. More than 3.4 million Americans have been infected with the virus and at least 136,800 have died.

“Voters give the president a negative 35 – 62 percent approval rating for his handling of the coronavirus response, his lowest mark since the question was first asked in March,” Quinnipiac said.