Despite allegations over his dealings in Ukraine, former Vice President Joe Biden’s support in the Democratic nomination for president has grown, according to a new poll released on Wednesday morning.
South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) had 6 percent support. Meanwhile, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Beto O'Rourke, a former Texas Congressman, had 3 percent each.
“The poll suggests that although Biden’s October debate performance did not blow away the audience (15 percent who watched or followed news about it said he had done the best job in the debate, well behind Warren’s 28 percent—but better than most on the stage), the arguments he made on health care, foreign policy, and the economy may have boosted his standing with the potential Democratic electorate,” according to an analysis of the poll.
Meanwhile, the former vice president leads the way on four of six issues that were mentioned in the poll.
“He holds a massive edge over the field on foreign policy (56 percent say he would handle it best, well ahead of Sanders at 13 percent and Warren at 11 percent), and tops the next closest candidate by nearly 20 points on the economy (38 percent Biden, 19 percent Sanders, 16 percent Warren). Biden also outpaces the rest of the field as most trusted on immigration (29 percent Biden, 16 percent each Warren and Sanders) and gun policy (27 percent vs. 13 percent Sanders and 11 percent Warren, with O'Rourke close at 9 percent),” the analysis read.
Biden, meanwhile, apologized for calling the impeachment inquiry into then-President Bill Clinton a “partisan lynching” after condemning President Donald Trump for calling the current inquiry a “lynching.”
Biden is among the top former and current lawmakers and media figures that used the word to describe past situations but still denounced Trump’s use of the word. “This wasn’t the right word to use and I’m sorry about that. Trump on the other hand chose his words deliberately today in his use of the word lynching and continues to stoke racial divides in this country daily,” Biden wrote late Tuesday after an article noted he used the word in 1998 to describe the impeachment of Clinton.
He was a senator when he made the comment.
Harris and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who is also a 2020 candidate, were among others who said Trump was wrong to use the word but have used the word in the past.
Both described the alleged assault of actor Jussie Smollett last year as an attempted “lynching.” Evidence suggested the assault was a hoax but prosecutors dropped the case, saying Smollett hadn’t hurt anybody.
