Billionaire bond fund manager Jeffrey Gundlach believes the polls are wrong and that President Trump will win a second term in the White House.
“Will Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in November? I don’t think so,” Gundlach, CEO and chief investment officer of Los Angeles-based DoubleLine Capital, which has $148 billion in assets under management, said in a webcast on Tuesday evening, according to 360aproko news.
He added that a “highly toxic political environment” makes the polls “very, very squishy.”
A RealClear Politics average of national polls showed Biden, who was vice president in former President Barack Obama’s administration, leading by 7.3 points on Wednesday. The margin in key battleground states that will decide the election was tighter, with Biden up 4.3 points.
GOLDMAN SACHS: INVESTORS SHOULD BET ON THESE PARTS OF THE STOCK MARKET
While the impact of Biden choosing Sen. Kamala Harris of California as his running mate isn’t yet reflected in the polls, Gundlach believes she is “a little too charismatic” and wasn’t a good choice.
A number of high-profile Republicans also criticized Biden’s selection, though Democrats praised Harris and some said they looked forward to watching the veteran prosecutor debate Vice President Mike Pence.
Gundlach, who correctly predicted Trump’s 2016 win, thinks there will be “a lot of twists and turns” until Election Day as independent voters still need to decide which candidate best aligns with their views.
The status of a COVID-19 vaccine is possibly the biggest wildcard between now and Nov. 3 as it would help restore consumer confidence that slumped to a six-year low after stay-at-home orders sent the economy spiraling into its deepest economic downturn of the post-World War II era.
Other key issues include China, the makeup of the Supreme Court and a wave of sometimes-violent protests in large cities after the death of George Floyd, a Black man, in police custody in Minneapolis in late May.
Gundlach’s political forecasts don’t always turn out to be correct. He told 360aproko news last year that Biden was a “placeholder type of candidate” and there was “no way” he would secure the nomination.
“I’ve been asking people, ‘Do you know anybody that really supports Joe Biden?’ and I haven’t met a single person that says they know anybody that truly supports Joe Biden,” Gundlach said in September.
