Trump and Biden enter their first debate tied in the polls

The American president, Joe Biden, and his rival, the former president donald trump (2017-2021), arrive at Thursday’s debate on CNN with a tie in the national polls, but with the Republican ahead in most of the states that will be key in the November elections.

According to the FiveThirtyEight survey average, Trump has a 41% of voting intention, compared to 40.9% of Biden, who has recovered ground in recent weeks and for whom a good performance in the debate is vital to improve in the polls and clear up some of the doubts about whether he can manage a second term at 81 years old.

The latest national poll, published on Wednesday by The New York Times, gives Trump a three-point lead over Biden, with a 40% of voting intention among likely voters.

The polls put both candidates within or very close to the margin of error, so the performance in the debate, the earliest in history, can be decisive in changing the trend in the polls and guiding the perception of voters.

Polls in decisive states, those that can lean towards one candidate or another, give Trump advantages in the majority.

In Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania the margin is a technical tie, while Trump has clear margins in Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada and Arizona.

This debate will be historic, not only because it comes before the conventions of both parties (a face-to-face debate had never before been held before September), but because of the age of the candidates (78, Trump; 81, Biden).

In addition, it is the first not organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates since 1988 and the first since the inaugural 1960 television debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon that does not have an audience.

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