Biden is hit with what could be the most damning swing state poll of the 2024 race less than a day before the debate

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A new swing state poll released Wednesday shows that more of the nation's most influential voters trust former President Donald Trump in handling threats to democracy than President Joe Biden.

In a survey produced by The Washington Post and the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, 38 percent of so-called 'deciders' in six swing states say Trump is a better steward for democracy.

That's in comparison to 29 percent of 'deciders' who say the same thing of Biden, who has centered his campaign around characterizing Trump as an authoritarian threat. 

Pollsters interviewed voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin - six states that Biden won over Trump in 2020 - and then pinpointed what demographic groups would most likely determine the outcome in 2024.

'Deciders' - those likely to swing the election - were determined by whether they fit into one or more of these key groups: 18 to 25-year-olds, those who voted in only one of the past two presidential elections, those who switched their votes between 2016 and 2020 and those who didn't definitely plan to vote Trump or Biden. 

President Joe Biden has hinged his reelection bid to the hope that voters will view former President Donald Trump as a threat to democracy after January 6 and vowing to be a 'dictator' on day one

That message, however, doesn't seem to be working on 'deciders' - those most likely to swing the election's outcome - as 38 percent versus 29 percent view Trump as the candidate who would do a better job handling threats to democracy 

When the entire surveyed population was asked the democracy question an even bigger group - 44 percent - said Trump would do a better job in handling threats to democracy. 

'Many Americans don't recognize Biden's custodianship of our democracy, which is a bad sign for his campaign,' Justin Gest, a professor of policy and government at George Mason University, told The Washington Post. 

Biden has hinged his reelection chances to the hope that voters will view Trump's threat to democracy over concerns about inflation and immigration - two key issues the Republican has used against Biden. 

The current president has pointed to January 6 and Trump's threat to be a 'dictator' on day No. 1 if he's successful in November. 

Trump has pushed back by pointing to his 88 criminal indictments - charging that Biden and Democrats have weaponized the Department of Justice against the former president. 

That same Department of Justice charged Biden's son Hunter on gun crimes - and he was convicted of two felonies in Delaware earlier this month. 

The first of two planned debates will take place Thursday night at CNN's headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump 

Trump was found guilty on 34 counts of business fraud in New York related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of Election Day 2016. 

Biden has also pointed to comments Trump has made about getting 'retribution' on his political enemies by prosecuting them using the DOJ - which is supposed to work independently from the White House. 

Overall, the poll surveyed 3,513 registered voters in the six key states - and identified 2,255 as 'deciders.' 

The survey was conducted from mid-April to late May.  

While a majority of 'deciders' - 56 percent - view democracy as an extremely important issue in the election, a bigger group of Trump and Biden voters deem it so. 

Among Biden voters, 78 percent said they believed democracy to be an extremely important issues, while 71 percent of Trump voters agreed. 

That means that Biden's message of saving democracy may not be potent to the group of voters he needs to swing to his side. 

Biden and Trump will face off for the first time on the debate stage Thursday night at CNN's headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.