Trump leads Biden by 18 POINTS in key state... in sign Joe could lead Democrats to their worst loss in 100 years

Former President Donald Trump has seized a commanding lead over President Biden in Iowa in a new poll, padding his lead in a state he carried in 2020.

Although Iowa was once a hard-fought political prize in November, in recent cycles it has been more important as a primary proving ground in an increasingly Republican state.

Trump holds a 50 to 32 percent lead over Biden in the state, according to a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll taken after a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records in the Stormy Daniels case. Trump won the state 53-45 back in 2020, indicating that Biden's drop in support is what is driving the gap.

Trump's lead was 48-33 in February, indicating the president's support in Iowa ticked up since he was found guilty on 34 counts weeks ago.

The result comes on a day Biden got a boost in a separate Marist/PBS/NPR poll coming days before he is set to debate Trump in Atlanta. The poll had the two candidates tied at 49 percent.

This election cycle is already featuring data that shows Trump reversing historical trends and nabbing record support among black voters. Biden is also struggling with young voters and Hispanic voters who were a key part of his coalition, even as he takes new executive actions to wipe away student loan debt and provide new paths to citizenship to people who came here illegally.

Of Biden's supporters, 81 per cent in Iowa say there minds are made up, indicating he is at least locking down many of his supporters.

His approval rating in Iowa is just 28 per cent, with 67 per cent disapproval.

If Biden's support at the ballot box remained at the 32 per cent he is getting in the poll, put in the field by Selzer & Co., it would be the worst Democratic showing since the 1924 election a century ago. 

Pollster Ann Selzer noted that the numbers were going in a direction that 'is consistently downward' for Biden. 

The last time a Democrat won Iowa in November was 2012, when Biden was on the ticket with President Barack Obama. They also won it in 2008.

Trump won an outright majority there both times he was on the ballot.