National Poll: Bernie Sanders Gains Ground on Joe Biden with Black Voters

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is gaining ground on former Vice President Joe Biden regarding his support among black voters, a national poll reveals.

An NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey published on Friday morning shows 29 percent of Black Democrat primary voters said they support Sanders, while 31 percent said that they back Biden.

NBC News notes:

The NBC News/WSJ poll used an oversample of black voters to gain greater insight into their views of the 2020 field. Because the margin of error for black Democratic primary voters alone — a sample size of 139 respondents — stands at a high 8.31 percent, it is difficult to differentiate the true levels of support for each of the candidates.

Still, the close margin shows that Sanders has made inroads in a community previously dominated by Biden; aggregated data from 2019 shows that Biden led Sanders among these voters by as much as 30 percentage points in NBC News/WSJ national polls last year.

The poll comes after Biden continues to struggle, placing fourth in the Iowa caucus and fifth in the New Hampshire primary, prompting concern among his supporters. Conversely, Sanders finished second in the Iowa caucus and first in the New Hampshire contest. The candidates will face-off at the ballot box when the Nevada Democrat caucus takes place on Saturday.

With respect to President Trump, the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found 14 percent said they approve of the president’s performance. On Thursday, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) predicted President Trump will see a 50 percent increase in support from Black voters, propelling him to re-election.

“President Trump will see a 50 percent increase in his African-American support,” Scott told Fox Business Network host Neil Cavuto. “It will go from 8 percent in 2016 to a minimum of 12 percent in 2020. He may even get to 15 percent of the African American vote, and that is game over.”