Trump gets a bounce from Republican convention as new poll shows him narrowing Biden’s lead by 4 points

The first poll to be completed since the Republican National Convention ended on Thursday night shows that President Donald Trump gained on rival Joe Biden, whittling down the Democrat’s lead in the race by four percentage points.

Forty-four percent of respondents said they will vote for Trump, up from 42 percent just before the RNC, Washington-based research firm Morning Consult said Saturday. Biden was chosen by 50 percent of respondents, down from 52 percent previously, meaning his lead was narrowed to six percentage points from 10.

The poll of more than 4,000 likely voters was conducted on Friday morning, while the pre-RNC survey was carried out on August 23. Morning Call said the survey has a one to two percent margin of error.

The result suggested that Trump is continuing to gather momentum in the race after gaining ground, by at least some measures, during the Democratic National Convention the previous week.

While Morning Consults surveys showed Biden’s lead was statistically unchanged between when the DNC began and when it ended, Trump’s approval rating rose to new highs.

Rasmussen Reports said the president’s rating rose to 51 percent on August 21, the morning after the DNC ended, from 47 percent on August 17, the day the convention began. The latest Zogby Analytics poll showed his rating had risen to 52 percent, the highest level of his presidency, based on a survey carried out during the DNC, August 17-20.

Trump got an even bigger convention bounce after the 2016 RNC, according to Morning Consults. He swung from trailing Hillary Clinton by two points before the convention to leading her by four points after the event. One key difference in that race is that Morning Consult showed 16 percent of likely voters as still undecided after the 2016 RNC, compared with 7 percent in Friday’s survey.

Although Trump gained ground on Biden, he was still viewed favorably by only 43 percent of likely voters after the RNC, unchanged from before the event. Biden’s favorability rating fell to 49 percent from 51 percent, Morning Call said.

A new Hill-HarrisX poll released Saturday showed that Trump's approval rating among registered black voters rose to 24 percent in an Aug. 22-25 survey from 15 percent on Aug. 8-11. 

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