Sex Assault Allegation Hasn’t Hurt Biden’s Standing, Poll Shows

(Bloomberg) -- Voters don't seem to be affected by the the allegations of sexual assault against Joe Biden, according to one of the first public polls to ask about the claim since he denied it last week.

Voters were split on the credibility of the accuser, Tara Reade, but there was no sign of an immediate impact on the presidential race and only a slight drop in the number of people who had a favorable impression of the likely Democratic nominee, according to the Monmouth University poll released Wednesday. Biden leads President Donald Trump 50% to 43% among registered voters, widening his lead from 4 points in April and 3 points in March.

Biden is viewed favorably by 41% of those surveyed and unfavorably by 44%, a slight drop from April. Trump does far worse, with 40% of those surveyed saying they see him favorably while 53% said they have an unfavorable view.

The poll was conducted April 30 to May 4, a period that included Biden's first TV interview about Reade's allegation, on May 1. In response to a question added to the survey after the interview, 86% of voters said they had heard about the allegation.

Of the registered voters surveyed, 37% said Reade's allegation was probably true, 32% said it probably wasn't true and 31% said they did not know. Views were split along party lines, with 55% of Democrats saying the claim was probably not true, while 50% of Republicans said it probably was true. A slightly larger percentage of men than women, 39% versus 35%, said they think Reade's allegation is probably true.

The poll has an error margin of 3.6 percentage points.