NEW POLL: Biden Tied With Trump Even As 67 Percent Say He Should Drop Out Over Debate
President Joe Biden is statistically tied with former President Donald Trump in a stunning new poll taken amid an avalanche of pressure for the president to drop out as Democratic nominee.
The president’s performance at CNN’s Biden-Trump debate led to calls for President Biden to drop out that escalated from a media frenzy over anonymous chatter to a media frenzy over elected Democrats stepping out publicly.
Just when Biden had seemed to quell the rebellion from some Democrats, Speaker Emerita Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reignited the fire Wednesday with a well-publicized interview reopening the decision.
After Biden had repeatedly said he will not drop out, Pelosi said “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short. I think overwhelming support of the caucus — it’s not for me to say, I’m not the head of the caucus anymore — but, he’s beloved, he is respected, and people want him to make that decision.”
Prominent Biden supporter George Clooney threw fuel on the fire with an op-ed calling for the president to drop out and describing his impressions of Biden from a fundraiser a few weeks ago.
Amid all that pressure comes a new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll headlined “Biden and Trump tied despite debate, as 67% call for president to drop out: POLL.”
The poll shows Trump and Biden knotted within a point even though 67 percent say Biden should drop out:
Americans divide 46-47% between Biden and Trump if the election were today, almost identical to a 44-46% ABC/Ipsos poll result in April. Among registered voters (though there’s plenty of time to register) it’s an absolute tie, 46-46%.
Were Vice President Kamala Harris to replace Biden as the Democratic nominee, vote choices are 49-46%, Harris-Trump, among all adults (and 49-47% among registered voters). Harris’ 49% is slightly better than Biden’s 46%, although she doesn’t have a statistically significant lead over Trump.
The poll shows Vice President Kamala Harris has overwhelming support from Democrats and Dem-leaning independents:
Should Biden withdraw — and he maintains he won’t — just 44% of Americans overall say they’d be satisfied with Harris as the Democratic nominee, with 53% dissatisfied. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, however, satisfaction with Harris reaches 70%, and it’s 76% among current Biden supporters.
Taken another way, in an open-ended question, Democrats and Democratic leaners were asked whom they’d like to see take Biden’s place if he withdrew. Twenty-nine percent named Harris, easily the leading choice in this group, with all others in the single digits. Still, demonstrating fragmentation, more than 30 potential candidates were named.
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