The White House Tuesday shrugged off a series of polls that show President Biden losing to former President Trump in five key swing states ahead of the 2024 election.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed Mr. Biden had seen the polls, but said it was too early to take them seriously.
She referenced polls in late 2022 that showed big losses for Democrats in that year’s midterm elections, only for the party to perform better than expected and retain control of the Senate.
“We really have to take these polls with a grain of salt,” Ms. Jean-Pierre told reporters at the daily White House press briefing.
“Just a year ago, back in 2022, there was a red wave that never materialized and back in October of 2022 there were multiple stories about how there was going to be a red wave, Democrats were be wiped out,” she said. “And now we are not talking about that, but that’s what we were seeing in October 2022.”
Ms. Jean-Pierre also pointed to polls from October 2011, which showed President Obama losing to eventual GOP nominee Mitt Romney. Mr. Obama won the 2012 election in a decisive victory.
The polling from The New York Times and Siena College released over the weekend shows Mr. Trump leads Mr. Biden in five battleground states. Mr. Trump is leading Mr. Biden by 10 points in Nevada, 6 points in Georgia, 5 points in Arizona, 5 points in Michigan and 4 points in Pennsylvania.
Mr. Biden only defeated Mr. Trump in one swing state, Wisconsin, but held just a 2-point lead.
Ms. Jean-Pierre cautioned that the media and voters should not focus on polls taken more than one year ahead of the election.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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