Trump campaign adviser: Battleground state polls matter most in race against Biden

Battleground state polls "matter the most" in this election, Trump's campaign adviser Steve Cortes said during an Axios virtual event on Friday, adding that those numbers illustrate a closer race than the national polls show.

Why it matters: Biden's national lead against Trump has widened to double digits, but the former vice president holds a narrower advantage in states needed for an Electoral College victory, such as Florida and Pennsylvania.

By the numbers: The RealClearPolitics' national polling average shows Biden with a roughly 9-point lead over Trump.

• The data aggregator's gauge of polls in Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and North Carolina — all battleground states — has Biden leading the president by around 4 points.

What they're saying: "It's most important, I think, for us to highlight to our supporters, to everybody, that battleground state polls are what matter most," Cortes said. "And when you look at battleground state polls — yes, it does show us down but down by really small margins, certainly margins that we can capture in the next few weeks."

• "You know, in politics, things can change by the hour, by the day. So, while the clock is ticking, we also have a lot of time to make sure that all those battleground states are indeed in play.
• "And I think team Biden knows that as well. You know, in reality, they don't believe that they are up double digits nationally. We certainly don't believe that. And again, it's not a national election. It's a state by state election."

The other side: Some members of the Biden campaign aren't celebrating public polling, including Jen O'Malley Dillon, the former VP's campaign manager.

• "There is still a long way to go in this campaign, and we think this race is far closer than folks on [Twitter] think. Like a lot closer," she tweeted this week.

Of note: Biden's campaign out-raised Trump by $150 million in August and posted a record-breaking $383 million haul for the month of September.

Go deeper: Why the polls could lead us astray again

Watch the News Shapers event here.