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With the election a year away, a new poll found President Joe Biden losing to Donald Trump in five of six swing states—and it has traumatized late-night hosts.
According to a poll published by The New York Times and Siena College on November 5, voters are backing Trump, Biden's likeliest Republican opponent, by margins of four to 10 percentage points in five of six important election battleground states one year before the 2024 election.
Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania are the states where the former president is leading. Wisconsin is the sixth battleground state where Biden leads by two percentage points.
If the results in the poll were the same by the time of the election next November, Trump would win more than 300 Electoral College votes. 270 is needed to become president.
On Monday, late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and Sarah Silverman, who was guest-hosting The Daily Show, tried to make sense of the polls during their monologues, with Kimmel also slamming Trump over his five-hour court appearance.
Newsweek reached out to representatives for Kimmel, Meyers, Silverman, and Donald Trump for comment over email Tuesday.
Jimmy Kimmel
The 55-year-old host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! joked about the polls in his opening monologue. He said: "Polling a year ahead of an election is always super-accurate—and if you don't believe me, just ask President Hillary Clinton."
Kimmel spoke about why it seems young voters aren't coming out in support of Biden.
"Young voters are said to be disenchanted with Biden's positions on climate change and Palestinian rights, and so they're leaning towards a guy who believes in neither of those things at all," he said.
Referencing the Star Wars franchise, the host said: "It's like after The Return of the Jedi, the people in the galaxy were like, 'You know, this Princess Leia is kind of a dud—why don't we give the Emperor another shot?'
"A lot of it is about age. Everyone says Biden's old—he's old. Which, yeah, he is old, but I want to remind you: Biden's 80, Trump is 77. They're basically—this isn't a choice between some old codger and a young up-and-comer. This is a choice between Mr. Burns and Mr. Magoo."
Seth Meyers
The host of Late Night with Seth Meyers didn't hold back on his thoughts either.
"Just to recap, throughout his presidency, Donald Trump was consistently the most disliked president in the history of polling. He lost the popular vote by 3 million the first time and 7 million the second time," he said.
"He cost the GOP the House in 2018 and the Senate in 2020. His hand-picked candidates in 2022 were rejected and humiliated in almost every single race where he played a major role.
"He got impeached twice and oversaw a disastrous and incompetent response to a once-in-a-generation pandemic. He orchestrated a coup attempt and incited a riotous mob to storm the Capitol that threatened to kill his own vice president and install him as an unelected dictator.
"He's facing four separate criminal cases, as well as a civil fraud trial that could erase his entire business empire. And on top of all that, he's the weirdest human being on the planet. So naturally, after all that, he is finally slinking away from the national spotlight in disgrace to face consequences for his behavior."
He said, to laughs from the audience: "And I'm just kidding. He's leading in the [bleep] polls again by like, a lot."
Sarah Silverman
Silverman was guest-hosting The Daily Show when she included a variety of zingers about both the current and former president during her monologue.
"Don't panic—it's still too early to say Biden will definitely lose. He could absolutely die in his sleep instead," she said.
"This is really scary for liberals. And I mean actually scary, not like they-took-Hamilton-off-Disney-Plus scary."
She said: "You know what, I'm going to be honest: I like a scary poll number—puts a little fire under your tuchus. This is a wake-up call to Joe Biden. I mean, no, really: Joe, wake up!
"And what makes these poll numbers particularly shocking is that the man Biden is losing to is currently on trial in every jurisdiction in America."
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About the writer
Billie is a Newsweek Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in London who has appeared online, in print and on ... Read more