![CNN host Phil Mattingly asked fellow host and analyst John Avalon to name him one time in history that a candidate polling like former President Donald Trump lost the election. [Screenshot CNN]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Screenshot-2023-09-18-at-10.29.44-AM-e1695047452623.png "CNN host Phil Mattingly asked fellow host and analyst John Avalon to name him one time in history that a candidate polling like former President Donald Trump lost the election. [Screenshot CNN]")
CNN host Phil Mattingly asked fellow host and analyst John Avlon to name one time in history that a candidate polling like former President Donald Trump lost the election.
The panel discussed concerns about Vice President Kamala Harris along with a new CBS poll that found just 34% of Americans believe President Joe Biden would finish a second term. Mattingly then turned his attention toward the likely matchup between Trump and Biden.
“Give me historical precedent for anyone in the history of the Republican Party, or really any party, being this far up, this close to the Iowa caucuses, with this rock solid of a base, that in poll after poll after poll isn’t remotely malleable or willing to openly consider anybody else, losing?” (RELATED: Obama Privately Warned Biden About Trump’s Strengths In 2024: REPORT)
WATCH:
“I’ll take your challenge,” Avlon said. “Give me a case where you got a candidate who’s been indicted four times over 90 counts, it’s had a huge impact on his polling, but when more people start to think about his electability, you’ve got a very fractured field that elevates him. And yes, Donald Trump, he has hardcore support … but there’s a simple majority of people who are opposed to him or persuadable and that’s why I think it is a disservice … to say that this is a forgone conclusion, a done deal. It’s not. People haven’t voted yet and they won’t start for four months.”
Trump leads Biden 41% to 35% in the key battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Twenty-four percent of voters remain undecided.
Trump also fares better among independent voter, receiving 32% to Biden’s 30%. Thirty-eight percent remain undecided. Biden did see a leg up among uncertain voters, beating Trump 49% to 38%.