Poll: Biden leads Trump as most voters know about Reade allegation

Joe Biden leads President Trump among registered voters by nine points (50% to 41%), even as most voters (86%) say they're aware of a 1993 sexual assault allegation by former Senate staffer Tara Reade, per a Monmouth University poll released Wednesday.

By the numbers: 37% of those surveyed said they believed that Reade's allegation against Biden was probably true, while 32% said it probably isn't true — though those feelings split largely along partisan lines.

• 50% of Republicans believed the allegation is probably true, while 17% don't. Meanwhile, 55% of Democrats believe it's not true, while only 20% believe it probably is.
• 32% of those who believe the allegation is probably true still back Biden, compared to 59% who support Trump.
• Biden has firmly denied Reade's allegation, saying last week that it "never happened."

Why it matters: Biden's lead over Trump despite wide knowledge of the Reade allegation, plus his big net favorability among Democrats (+66), indicates that his position as the presumptive Democratic nominee remains solid.

• It's also noteworthy that he retains a higher net favorability with women (+8) than men (-15) despite the allegation.

Methodology: The Monmouth University Poll was conducted by telephone from April 30 to May 4, with 808 adults in the U.S. The results in this release are based on 739 registered voters and have a +/- 3.6 percentage point sampling margin of error.