Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) on Sunday brushed off the recent polls showing President Biden's slight lead over former President Trump in his home state of Wiscoin, noting he does not trust early polling.
"Well, as somebody who has run statewide three times and seeing polls wildly incorrect, all three times, I just would not trust the early polls," Johnson said in an interview on NewsNation's "The Hill Sunday." "What you can pretty well bet on is Wisconsin is going to be a very close state. I don't think there's any doubt about it."
A series of recent polls have shown Biden and Trump neck-and-neck in the Badger State, and a New York Times/Siena College/Philadelphia Inquirer poll released last week found Wisconsin to be the only one out of six swing states where Biden is leading Trump.
Biden led Trump by 2 points in Wisconsin while Trump beat him by nearly 12 points, a state that typically leans bluer.
In a Quinnipiac University poll released earlier this month, Biden leads Trump in Wisconsin by 6 points in a hypothetical head-to-head match, but that lead shrinks to just a single point when third-party candidates are included in the race.
Johnson on Sunday suggested the close numbers signal both candidates are going to have to put in the work to take a solid lead.
"Both candidates are going to have to come in here and they're going to have to have a strong ground game. That's really what we're trying to do using the Republican Party Wisconsin here," he said.
"We have a more difficult task as Republicans. Democrats can bind their votes in Milwaukee and Madison, we have to go throughout the state and get votes through every little, small town in Wisconsin. But I think we're up to the task and we're certainty energized coming off of our Republican Party Wisconsin convention this weekend," he added.
Biden narrowly won Wisconsin in the 2020 election, beating the former president by less than a single point.
According to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s national polling average, Biden and Trump are tied, 44.8 percent each.
NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.
