A new survey finds that three-quarters of voters believe Democrats would have a better chance of winning the 2024 election if they fielded a different candidate than President Biden. The CNN poll was released Tuesday..
Biden’s performance in the first debate raised alarm among some Democrats and supporters, as the president struggled to gather his thoughts and counter many of Trump’s falsehoods. Critics of the president have floated the idea of replacing Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris or another young Democratic star as the party’s presidential nominee.
The poll found that a majority of Democrats and left-leaning independents (56%) said Democrats would likely win the November presidential election without Biden.
In head-to-head battles, former President Trump holds a 6-point lead over Biden nationally, the same as a CNN poll from April.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, on Tuesday became the first lawmaker to publicly call on Biden to end his campaign. The president is also facing pressure from donors to restructure his campaign.
The CNN poll also asked voters who they thought would be the next Biden successor, with Harris receiving the most support, 47% to 45%, just two points behind Trump within the margin of error.
Other prominent Democrats, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, have also polled ahead of Biden.
Biden’s campaign was quick to deny the notion that the president would withdraw from the 2024 race.
“Of course he’s not backing down,” Biden campaign spokesman Seth Schuster said in a text message shortly after last week’s debate.
A CNN poll also saw Biden’s favorability rating fall to 34%, the lowest it has recorded.
The race remains tight overall, with Trump leading Biden by 0.6 percentage points in the Hill/Decision Desk average of national polls.
