Democrats are chewing over the New York Times/Siena College poll released this weekend that shows Joe Biden trailing Donald Trump in several key swing states. Here’s what one senator had to say, from the Guardian’s Mark Oliver:

The Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal said on Sunday that the party had “its work cut out for us” in response to new polling that shows President Joe Biden trailing Donald Trump in five of six swing states.

The survey by the New York Times and Siena College of voters in six battleground states, was released with 365 days to go until the 2024 presidential election.

Biden is ahead in Wisconsin, but Trump topped the survey in Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan. The margins ranged from three to 10 percentage points, and reflected an erosion of support among the fragile, multiracial coalition that elected Biden over Trump in 2020.

Speaking to CNN’s State of the Union, Blumenthal of Connecticut, said: “I was concerned before these polls, and I’m concerned now. These presidential races over the last couple of terms have been very tight. No one is going to have a runaway election here. It’s going to take a lot of hard work, concentration, resources. And so we have our work cut out for us.”

However, Blumenthal praised Biden’s record, pointing to his diplomacy on the Israel-Hamas war – which has dismayed some on the progressive side of the party – saying the president’s leadership “has been critical … where he’s forged a bipartisan consensus in favor of a peaceful outcome with a Palestinian state as the goal”.

How is Donald Trump coping with the scrutiny and pressure of his ongoing civil fraud trial? The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell looked into it, and here’s what he found:

Donald Trump has appeared at times angrily under siege as he stews over his predicament in the New York civil fraud case, according to people close to the