Biden’s 2020 Election Odds Improve to -166 as Trump Flails; Pence’s Odds Also Improve Significantly

• Joe Biden’s odds to win the 2020 US Presidential election have improved again to -166
• There’s quiet speculation that incumbent Donald Trump may tender his resignation rather than lose to Biden
• Could that be why Vice-President Mike Pence’s odds are trending favorably?

Donald Trump’s June swoon continued unabated, and the benefactor continues to be Joe Biden.

As Americans woke up on Canada Day, they did so to the news that former Vice-President Biden’s betting line to win the Presidency was shortening yet again in the 2020 election odds.

2020 US Presidential Election Odds

Odds as of July 1st.

Across the leading online sportsbooks, Biden is currently at his shortest line to win the election. He’s the odds-on -166 favorite to capture the necessary Electoral College numbers in order to win the Presidency when Americans go to the polls on Nov. 3rd.

Trump’s betting line has climbed to +145.

Biden Benefactor of Trump Missteps

COVID-19 numbers are spiking across the country. Several of the hot spots are in states that went for Trump in 2016. Many of them also followed Trump’s lead to quickly reopen the economy.

Meanwhile, the latest scandal to hit the Trump White House isn’t going away. Several media sources are reporting that Russia paid hit money to Afghan rebels to kill US soldiers. The reports also indicate that Trump has known about this fact for several months and did nothing to rebuke Russia.

The newest polling numbers are backing the solid movement in Biden’s favor in the betting lines. A poll done by the Pew Research Center shows Biden with a 10-point lead over Trump. He’s at 54%, while Trump is at 44%. A Suffolk University/USA Today poll gives Biden with a 53-41 advantage.

Another poll indicated that 87% of Americans are unhappy with the direction that the country is taking. That’s hardly a vote of confidence in the Trump Administration or the Republican-controlled Senate, and has to be alarming news for the party.

Biden Holds Effective Press Conference

On Tuesday, Biden held his first public press conference in three months. Biden gave a 20-minute address, hammering away at Trump’s ineffectiveness as a leader. The former VP offered a proposed plan to counter COVID-19 that would be put in place by his administration if he’s elected.

One of Trump's main campaign messages is that Biden can barely talk (last week: "Whenever he does talk, he can't put two sentences together"), so it's perhaps worth noting that Biden is very much uttering coherent sentences at this press conference.

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 30, 2020

Afterward, Biden opened the floor, calmly and smoothly answering 16 questions from reporters.

If was an effective performance. As one pundit suggested, Biden tossed an anvil to the drowning Trump.

Trump on the Way Out?

As public opinion continues to turn away from Trump, there’s been quiet speculation that he may opt to resign from the Presidency rather than face up to a humiliating defeat.

Perhaps that explains why the numbers of a couple of prominent Republicans are trending upward in the latest 2020 Presidential odds.

A former Trump staffer — who worked side by side with him — just told me this: “I think Trump will resign and control the narrative of his own demise. I'd rather see him contract the virus and save us all from a national suicide.”

— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) June 30, 2020

Mike Pence, Trump’s Vice-President, saw his odds shorten from +7900 to +4650 in the span of a week. The betting line on Nikki Haley, Trump’s former Ambassador to UN, is also on the move. Haley’s odds went from +15375 to +10500.

Meanwhile, a group of administration and campaign officials who worked for two-term Republican President George W. Bush, citing the need to bring honor and integrity back to the White House, are forming their own Super PAC to support Biden’s campaign.

Perhaps Biden summed up this election cycle the best.

“This is the most unusual campaign, I think, in modern history,” Biden said.

That it is.