New polling shows former president Donald Trump statistically tied with President Joe Biden in the swing state of Pennsylvania.
Among registered voters, 47 percent said they support Trump with 46 percent backing Biden, Quinnipiac University found in a poll of likely 2024 voters in Pennsylvania. Independents went for Trump 51 to 37.
In the Republican primary, Trump leads the pack with 49 percent support, with rival Ron DeSantis in second place with 25 percent. Biden leads Democratic challenger Robert Kennedy Jr. 71 points to 17 points.
The winners of the last two presidential elections both carried Pennsylvania. Trump won the swing state by less than a point in 2016 and Biden won it by just over a point in 2020.
The poll could be bad news for Biden, particularly as it shows Pennsylvania voters place importance on the scandal surrounding his son Hunter Biden, who reached a plea deal last week for misdemeanor tax crimes and avoided prosecution on a gun charge. Seventy-five percent of voters said the charges were either "very serious" or "somewhat serious." Seventy percent said they are following developments in the story "very closely" or "somewhat closely."
A majority, 58 percent, of voters said the plea deal reached between Hunter Biden and the Department of Justice, which will likely see the first son avoid prison time, was politically motivated.
Biden is already sensitive about the charges, with new reports saying he is lashing out at aides who advise he maintain distance from his scandal-plagued son.
"Hands off my family" is how one source described to NBC Biden's policy toward close aides.