Biden trails Trump in Wisconsin, including among older voters, poll finds

Joe Biden is down 6 percentage points against Donald Trump in the key battleground state of Wisconsin, with older voters tilting toward the Republican, according to an AARP post-debate poll released Tuesday.

As Democrats deal with infighting over the president’s age and fitness to serve after his disastrous debate performance less than two weeks ago, the poll shows Trump leading Biden in a full ballot test, 44 percent to 38 percent.

Wisconsin voters aged 50 and older favor Trump over Biden, 48 percent to 41 percent, the poll shows, with the former president’s lead increasing to 15 percentage points among voters specifically within ages 50 to 64. Biden and Trump are tied among voters 65 years and older.

Biden’s numbers in the must-win state are further cause for concern after his debate performance raised worries over his age, with at least six congressional Democrats publicly calling for him to bow out of the race and dozens more expressing serious doubts about their nominee in private.

The poll was conducted just before Biden held a defiant rally in the state capital of Madison, where he defended his candidacy and reiterated that his age is not a hindrance. He asked an energetic crowd of supporters whether he was “too old” to restore Roe v. Wade, ban assault weapons and protect social security and Medicare.

A spokesperson for the Biden campaign pointed to its presence in Wisconsin, including the president’s recent rally, and other polls showing a close race between Biden and Trump in the state.

Republicans are less than a week away from their party’s national convention in Milwaukee. Despite Trump reportedly calling Milwaukee a “horrible city” in a closed-door meeting and disputing reports he planned to stay in Chicago throughout the convention, the former president has made it a focus to refine his image in the swing state.

In a head-to-head test excluding independent and third-party candidates, Trump still beats out Biden, 50 percent to 45 percent.

For the Senate contest, however, the GOP’s advantage in Wisconsin diminishes in a sharp divergence from the presidential race. Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin is ahead of Republican Eric Hovde 50 percent to 45 percent, although he narrowly leads by 3 percentage points among voters ages 50 and older.

A Marquette University Law School poll before the debate showed Biden in dead heat with Trump in Wisconsin.

The poll was conducted June 28-July 2, surveying 1,052 likely voters composed of a statewide representative sample of 600 likely voters and an oversample of 452 likely voters (to achieve a total sample of 800 likely voters) ages 50 and older. The margin of error for the statewide sample is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points and 3.5 percentage points for older voters.