Good morning. Welcome to Axios today. We've made it to Wednesday. It's

October 7th. I'm Naila Boodoo. Here's how we're making you smarter today.

President Trump and stimulus negotiations. Here's how we're making you smarter today.

President Trump and stimulus negotiations.

Plus, how the pandemic is hurting freedom around the world.

And to get you up quick, last night, Trump-aid Stephen Miller said he had tested positive for the coronavirus.

With three weeks to go before the election, at least 18 people in and around the White House

have contracted COVID-19.

And now, today's one big thing. Elderly Americans are dumping Trump.

We're now seeing something unexpected in new polling out about President Trump and his standing among elderly

Americans. A new NBC Wall Street Journal poll shows a 27-point Biden lead

among Americans 65 and older. This is a group President Trump won in 2016 by seven

points. This is as deep a hole as I have seen in years, Nia.

Axio's co-founder Mike Allen is here to explain why this is such a big deal.

One big reason is COVID.

He just didn't take it seriously.

Look at this quote, Niaa, from a former senior White House official who's in close touch with the Trump team.

This official told Jonathan Swan, a few of us screamed from the rooftops in March.

They said, if you don't win seniors, you can't win.

And if you don't take something that's killing old people seriously, you will lose. Seniors make up a lot of our

volunteer poll workers and you could count on them to vote, which is why the parties court them so carefully.

But this is something that has been true

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