Biden judged more mentally sound than Trump in new Fox News poll


Fox News released its first national poll of likely voters in the 2020 election on Sunday, and Democrat Joe Biden leads by 5 percentage points, 51 parent to 46 percent, right at edge of the margin of sampling error. "Likely voters trust Trump over Biden on just one issue: the economy, by 5 points," Fox News notes. "Biden is favored on racial inequality (+12), coronavirus (+8), health care (+8), Supreme Court nominations (+7), and immigration (+7 points)," plus "policing and criminal justice" (+7) and "maintaining law and order" (Biden +2).
"Law and order," or course, is Trump's current campaign theme. Another frequent attack he and his surrogates have been making against Biden is that the former vice president isn't mentally up to the job. Likely voters disagree, Fox News found. A 51 percent majority said they "think Joe Biden has the mental soundness to serve effectively as president" versus 47 percent who said the same of Trump; 51 percent of likely voters said Trump does not have the mental soundness to be president, versus 45 percent who said the same of Biden.
Biden also topped Trump on the question of having the compassion to serve effectively as president, with 62 percent saying Biden passes that test while 54 percent said Trump failed it. Biden leads Trump in the question of who could bring the country together better by 13 points, but 51 percent of registered and likely voters guessed Trump would be re-elected.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
RealClearPolitics has Biden up 7.5 points in its aggregate of national polls, 50.5 percent to 43 percent; FiveThirtyEight's polling average has Biden ahead by 7.3 points, 50.6 percent to 43.3 percent, and its forecast currently gives him 75 percent odds of winning. The Fox News poll, conducted Sept. 7-10 under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Co. (R), reached 1,191 likely voters by phone, and its margin of sampling error is ±2.5 percentage points.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
George Floyd: Did Black Lives Matter fail?
Feature The momentum for change fades as the Black Lives Matter Plaza is scrubbed clean
-
National debt: Why Congress no longer cares
Feature Rising interest rates, tariffs and Trump's 'big, beautiful' bill could sent the national debt soaring
-
Why are military experts so interested in Ukraine's drone attack?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The Zelenskyy government's massive surprise assault on Russian airfields was a decisive tactical victory — could it also be the start of a new era in autonomous warfare?
-
Nationalist wins tight Polish presidential election
speed read Karol Nawrocki beat Rafal Trzaskowski in Poland's presidential runoff election
-
Ukraine hits Russia's bomber fleet in stealth drone attack
speed read The operation, which destroyed dozens of warplanes, is the 'biggest blow of the war against Moscow's long-range bomber fleet'
-
Starving Gazans overrun US-backed food aid hub
speed read Israeli troops fired warning shots at the Palestinians
-
Israel's Western allies pull back amid Gaza escalation
speed read Britain and the EU are reconsidering allegiance with Israel as the Gaza siege continues
-
Trump drops ceasefire demand after Putin call
speed read Following a phone call with Russia's president, Trump backed off an earlier demand that Putin agree to an immediate ceasefire with Ukraine
-
Pro-EU centrist beats Trump acolyte in Romania vote
speed read The mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, defeated hard-right nationalist George Simion in the race for Romania's presidency
-
Israel-US 'rift': is Trump losing patience with Netanyahu?
Today's Big Question US president called for an end to Gaza war and negotiated directly with Hamas to return American hostage, amid rumours of strained relations
-
Kurdish PKK militia to disband for Turkey talks
speed read The Kurdistan Workers' Party will disarm after four decades of armed conflict with Turkey, putting an end to 'one of the longest insurgencies in the Middle East'