US election 2020: Trump campaign dumps pollsters after leak showed Joe Biden lead in key states

Move comes ahead of the official launch of Donald Trump’s campaign at a Tuesday rally in the battleground state of Florida

Joe Biden is the front-runner in the large Democratic primary field, but his strength and Trump’s possible weakness could change greatly in the months ahead

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A nationwide Fox News poll released Sunday shows US President Donald Trump trailing former vice-president Joe Biden and no fewer than four other Democratic contenders as early campaigning for the 2020 election begins to gain steam. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:28am, 17 Jun 2019Updated: 7:14am, 17 Oct 2020

US President Donald Trump’s campaign is cutting ties with three members of his polling team after grim numbers showing him trailing former vice-president Joe Biden in several battleground states were leaked to the media, according to several officials with knowledge of the matter.

Days ahead of Trump’s official launch of his re-election bid on Tuesday, the campaign is severing its relationship with Brett Loyd, Mike Baselice and Adam Geller while keeping pollsters Tony Fabrizio and John McLaughlin.

The officials, like others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss internal moves.

The Trump campaign declined to comment. NBC first reported on the campaign’s actions.

The news follows reports – first by POLITICO and later by The New York Times – on a 17-state internal poll conducted by Fabrizio.

The data, later reported by ABC and NBC, show Trump trailing Biden by double digits in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida and Michigan, where Trump narrowly edged out Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.

The poll also found Trump behind Biden in several other states that were key to the president’s win – Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio and Georgia – while holding a narrow edge in strongly Republican Texas.