Biden's lead doubles to 10 points in new Fox News poll

(Image credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty)

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has doubled his lead over President Trump in a Fox News national poll of likely voters released Wednesday. In the new poll, conducted after the first presidential debate and after Trump contracted COVID-19, Biden leads by 10 percentage points, 53 percent to 43 percent; in the previous Fox News poll three weeks ago, Biden led by 5 points.

Biden's 10-point advantage is in line with other recent polls. The RealClearPolitics average has Biden up 9.7 points, 51.6 percent to 41.9 percent, while FiveThirtyEight clocks Biden's lead at 9.5 points (51.7 percent to 42.2 percent) and gives him 84 in 100 odds of winning the Electoral College.

There are several outsized reasons for Biden's lead in the new Fox News poll. First, the two biggest issues for voters are the coronavirus pandemic and the economy, and Biden beats Trump by 39 points among the COVID-19 voters while Trump leads by only 12 points with economy voters. A 72 percent majority agrees with Biden that masks should be required attire outside the home, 24 percent said the virus is under control, and 65 percent rate economic conditions as poor or fair.

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Trump spent the summer attacking anti-racism protests and touting "law and order," but "those who say violent crime is the most important factor to their vote favor Trump by a single point, while voters who prioritize racism back Biden by 44," Fox News reports. And voters increasingly like Biden, whose favorability rating has grown to a net-positive 16 points, and dislike Trump, now at a net-negative 10 points.

The Fox News poll was conducted via phone Oct. 3-6 by Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Co. (R). The pollsters surveyed 1,012 likely voters, and the poll's margin of sampling error is ± 3 percentage points.

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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.