Fox News Poll: Post-debate, Trump is back on top in horserace

Former President Trump narrowly regains the top spot in the race for the White House, besting President Biden by just one point. That’s according to a Fox News national survey that was taken after the first presidential debate but before Saturday’s assassination attempt on the former president.

Amid calls for Biden to withdraw as the Democratic nominee, the survey finds a majority thinks his age is putting U.S. national security at risk. But it also finds that self-identified Democratic voters, by a 10-point margin, want the president to stay in the contest.

Sixty-one percent of voters think the U.S. is less respected around the world compared to four years ago, up from 54% who said the same in 2019 under the Trump administration.

After an extremely poor performance at the first presidential debate, 63% believe Biden’s age is jeopardizing national security, 71% think the White House has been dishonest about Biden’s mental state, and another 63% doubt he is that involved in making important decisions these days.

All that seems to have already been factored into voters’ preferences, as the survey shows a small shift in the Biden-Trump matchup since June. Biden was ahead by 2 points last month (50-48%), and now Trump is ahead by 1 point (48-49%) – which is also exactly where things stood in May.

The shift comes mostly from independents, even though they are an extremely small subgroup. Most Republicans back Trump (93%), most Democrats back Biden (92%) and independents favor Trump by just 2 points (well within the margin of error). In June, Trump and Biden received equal support from their partisans (95% each) and independents went for Biden by 9 points.

Among voters saying Biden is placing the U.S. at risk, roughly one-quarter