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President Donald Trump is headlining two rallies in Arizona on Monday, as polls show his race with Joe Biden tightening in key battleground states.
Trump rallied supporters in Prescott and was scheduled to head to Tucson, campaigning in Arizona after his COVID-19 diagnosis forced him to postpone a visit earlier this month. Biden has a narrow 3.1-percentage-point lead over Trump in the state, according to an average of polls from RealClearPolitics.
With 15 days to go until the election, Biden’s lead in top swing states including Arizona is shrinking. As of Monday, the former vice president had a 4.1-point lead over Trump, compared to a 4.9-point advantage a week ago. Biden’s lead in national polling and betting markets has shrunk as well, though he still maintains a comfortable edge over Trump in both metrics.
| Data point | |
| Polling avg. in top swing states | Biden +4.1 as of Monday vs. Biden +4.9 a week ago |
| National polling avg. | Biden +8.9 as of Monday vs. Biden +10.2 a week ago |
| Betting markets | Biden 58.6%, Trump 41.8% as of Monday vs. Biden 66.6%, Trump 33.6% a week ago |
| S&P 500 | -0.7% Monday, +5.5% in 1 month |
| CBOE Volatility Index | +2.2% Monday, +0.9% in 1 month |
Sources: RealClearPolitics, FactSet
Biden is taping an interview for CBS’s “60 Minutes” that is scheduled to air Sunday. An interview with Trump will air on the same program.
Both candidates are also preparing for their next and final debate, which is scheduled for Thursday in Nashville. Biden and Trump will meet for the first time since their raucous Sept. 29 debate, at which both men frequently talked over one another. Trump pulled out of an Oct. 15 debate after the organizers wanted a virtual event due to the president’s COVID diagnosis. Both Trump and Biden held town halls instead on the same evening.
On Monday, the Trump campaign protested the final debate’s topics, claiming that the issues set for it were different than those previously agreed on by the two campaigns.
U.S. stocks SPX, -1.63% dropped Monday afternoon, in a reversal of earlier gains, as analysts weighed the prospects of a stimulus package being finalized ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
