Florida Polls Give Joe Biden Slim Lead, As Donald Trump Claims Rival is 'Losing Big' in the State

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has a slim lead in recent election surveys for Florida, while President Donald Trump has said his rival is "losing big" in the state and only "fake polls" are showing him ahead.

The president visited Florida on Tuesday for a campaign rally, at which he took the opportunity to defend his record on handling the coronavirus crisis and made a number of attacks against Biden.

Tweeting on Tuesday evening, he said: "Biden losing big in Florida. Only Fake Polls show otherwise!"

He did not refer to specific research which backed his claim on Florida.

The president has long dismissed polling, suggesting he is on course for a win despite surveys largely indicating otherwise.

Amid Trump's insistence on Biden being behind, the latest polls from the state have shown the former vice president to be slightly in front of the Republican incumbent.

Polling from Emerson College puts Biden ahead by three points, with 50 percent of the support compared to 47 percent for Trump.

The poll was conducted October 10 to 12 among 690 likely voters in Florida. It has a credibility interval, similar to a margin of error, of plus or minus 3.7 percent.

According to Morning Consult's latest polling for the state, conducted among 4,785 likely voters October 2 to 11, Biden has a 5-point lead. The polling's margin of error is plus or minus 1.4 percent.

Real Clear Politics' tracker of polling for Florida puts Biden ahead by 3.7 points on average, factoring in multiple separate state surveys.

While most polling has suggested a slight advantage to Biden, a Fox35/InsiderAdvantage poll of 400 likely Florida voters conducted October 6 to 7 gave Trump a 3-point lead. The incumbent had 46 percent of the support over Biden's 43 percent. The polling had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent.

Newsweek has contacted the Trump and Biden campaigns for comment on polling in Florida.

Trump won Florida last time out by around 1.2 percent, with around 112,000 votes more than then Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, according to figures collated by The New York Times.

The state has regularly switched in recent presidential elections, with Barack Obama winning there in 2008 and 2012, and George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. Since 1964, the state has voted for the winner in each election except 1992.

As well as being behind in Florida, FiveThirtyEight's and Real Clear Politics' trackers put Trump down by 10.4 and 10 points respectively in averages of national polls.