A new poll finds that an overwhelming majority of Democrats say they would support Vice President Harris becoming their top presidential candidate if President Biden decides to step down.
The New Economist/YouGov investigationA poll released Thursday found that 79% of Democrats would support Harris in the party’s nomination contest in November if Biden drops out of the race. The reaction comes as a growing number of Democrats are calling for the incumbent candidate to drop out following her poor performance in last month’s debate with former President Trump.
About 28% of Democrats say Harris is more likely to beat Trump than Biden, about 32% say the vice president has an equal chance of winning, and 24% say Harris is less likely to beat former President Biden in this fall’s election.
More than half of Americans, or 51 percent, think Biden should definitely or probably step aside and let another Democrat run for office. Just under 45 percent of respondents said the same, while 41 percent said Biden should not step aside, according to the poll.
Among Democrats who think Trump should succeed him, 68% said concerns about his age, health and cognitive function were the biggest reason they should not seek reelection, while about 23% cited concerns about whether Trump can be beaten as their main reason.
While many respondents said Biden should withdraw, fewer said it was likely the president would withdraw: Just 4% said it was very likely that Biden would withdraw, and 15% said it was somewhat likely. About 65% said it was very unlikely or not at all likely that Biden would withdraw from the election.
The poll was conducted July 13-16 among 1,582 respondents and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Despite numerous calls for him to step down, Biden has insisted he has no plans to withdraw, saying on Wednesday he would only reconsider running if health concerns arose.
