As Debate Nears, Polls Give Trump a Sizeable Swing State Lead Over Biden on Issues That Really Count

This first debate will be all about the economy, stupid — and President Trump is up 15 points over President Biden on that issue.

AP/Bruce Kluckhohn, file
President Trump speaks on October 30, 2020, at Rochester, Minnesota. AP/Bruce Kluckhohn, file

With a little more than five weeks to go before the first Trump-Biden debate, virtually all the polls show the most important issues are the economy and immigration.

In a recent Bloomberg-Morning Consult poll, President Trump is up 15 points over President Biden on the economy, 51 percent to 36 percent.

On immigration, Trump is up 20 points, 52 percent to 32 percent. Important flag here: this is just seven swing states. In some sense, though, that may be all that matters for this election.

Head-to-head for the big seven, by the way, Mr. Trump is up six points, 49 percent to 43 percent.

Of course, polls aren’t votes. They are, though, voter snapshots. And they are interesting, because Mr. Trump has a sizable lead on the issues that really count.

Which makes you wonder — what’s going to change between now and June 27, the first debate?

On the economy, Mr. Trump will have significant ammunition on two key points.

First, real disposable income, an absolutely vital presidential-year indicator.

On a cumulative basis, Mr. Trump was up over 12 percent during his term, while Mr. Biden is only up 2.9 percent in his term.

That’s one of the worst disposable income performances of any post-World War II presidency.

And a key reason for Mr. Biden’s bad income growth is that, cumulatively, inflation under Mr. Trump was only up 8 percent — while it’s up 21 percent under Mr. Biden.

Mr. Biden’s inflation increase is higher than any other president in the past forty years. There’s no getting around it. Mr. Biden’s overspending is a chief culprit in the inflation story.

I might add, a recent Fox News poll for the entire country shows very similar results in favor of Mr. Trump on the economy, illegal immigration, and overall.

So, Mr. Biden keeps telling a huge whopper — that he inherited a 9 percent inflation rate from Mr. Trump.

This will probably become the greatest Pinocchio lying meter in political history. 

No matter how many times Mr. Biden repeats it — and he’s been repeating it almost on a daily basis — the facts from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics are that Mr. Biden inherited a 1.4 percent consumer price index over the twelve months ending in January 2021.

By the middle of 2022, Bidenflation registered at 9 percent. He’ll never live that down.

There are also lots of other statistics that Mr. Trump will undoubtedly bring into play during the debate, especially on the Biden affordability crisis — where real wages have actually fallen substantially compared to outsized real wage gains during the Trump years.

Interest rates for home mortgages, credit cards, and auto loans are, of course, way higher as well under Mr. Biden than under Mr. Trump.

Middle-income folks simply cannot afford to live in the Biden economy.

And then there are the ten (or so) million illegal immigrants — and the related crime problem throughout the country — which will be another huge plus for Mr. Trump during the debate.

That, too, is not going to change between now and June 27. To repeat a cliché: this first debate (at least) will be all about the economy, stupid.

Mr. Trump will have plenty of ammo. Lord knows he knows how to use it.

From Mr. Kudlow’s broadcast on Fox Business Network.


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