Biden leads Trump by 15 points in Washington Post/ABC poll amid pandemic - Axios

Down Fifteen Percent! Trump's chances are melting!

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Axios

Photos: Drew Angerer/Getty Images (left); Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Former Vice President Joe Biden is the preferred candidate to handle the coronavirus pandemic and he's opened up a 15-point lead over President Trump, an ABC News/Washington Post poll published early on Sunday finds.

By the numbers: Biden is ahead of Trump 55%-40% among registered voters. However, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee's margin reduces to 54%-44% among likely voters.

Why it matters: Per the poll news release, "Three and a half months ago the two candidates were virtually even in trust to handle the pandemic, Trump +2 percentage points, 45-43 percent. Today, with COVID-19 cases surging around the nation, Biden leads Trump on the issue by a 20-point margin, 54-34 percent."

The picture: The phone survey of 1,006 adults, conducted July 12-15 with a margin of error of 3.5 points, comes as coronavirus cases spike across the United States. The COVID-19 death toll surpassed 140,000 in the U.S. on Sunday.

• 19 states this week set new highs for coronavirus infections recorded in a single day, and the U.S. on Saturday reported more than 71,500 new coronavirus cases — second highest to the record 75,600-plus set last Thursday.
• 62% of registered voters told a Quinnipiac University poll out last Wednesday that Trump is hurting efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19.