MSNBC national political correspondent Steve Kornacki explained Tuesday why President Joe Biden is not ahead of former President Donald Trump in nearly every poll since the presidential debate.

There's been some disagreement within the Democratic Party over how Biden should act in the wake of his poor performance in the debate, including how to replace Trump with a candidate who is more likely to beat him. Kornacki of the Katy Tarr Report said that while some Democrats may be watching the polls with great anxiety, others may take comfort in the fact that Biden hasn't particularly distanced himself from Trump after the debate. (Related: Inconsistencies in KJP press conference stall White House spin machine)

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'Biden isn't leading in any election': MSNBC data expert analyzes Trump surge in post-debate polls pic.twitter.com/zzhh8ibJR6

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“All eight of these polls were conducted after the debate and these are the results. I think we see a clear pattern here,” Kornacki said. “First of all, this is clear. Every single poll since the debate has Donald Trump ahead of Joe Biden or in one they're tied. And in most of these polls, we've seen a movement in favor of Trump and away from Biden. Not all of them, but we see a pretty clear pattern. So what we're seeing here is Trump's lead, and if you average all of these out, he's got an average 3.4-point lead in the post-debate polls. That's about a two-point move from the last poll. It's moved about 1.5, 2 points in favor of Trump since the debate.”

“For Democrats, it's a question of how to interpret this. Some Democrats … might argue, 'Look, it's still close. The bottom hasn't fallen out. It's not like Biden lost by 10 or 20 points. It's something clear and decisive.' Democrats can say, 'Hey, this is something we can bounce back from.' Meanwhile, other Democrats … will look at this and say, 'At the end of the day, Joe Biden is not leading in any of these polls,'” he continued. “Joe Biden is losing ground in most of these polls. And we live in a world where the margins are so small either way in elections that a change of a few points may seem small, but it can be decisive. So some Democrats might just look at this with caution, and other Democrats might look at this and say not much has changed. It's a question of interpretation.”

CNN political director David Chalian warned Monday that the race will become more complicated for Biden as Democratic states like Minnesota, Virginia and New Mexico become increasingly “competitive.”

“That would mean Biden would have to spend more resources in more states than he does now, and if the maps go against him, he would not be in a good position going into the fall election,” Chalian said.

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