A recent poll shows that an overwhelming majority of Democrats support Vice President Harris as their replacement if President Biden resigns.
A new Economist/YouGov poll released Thursday found that 79% of Democrats would support Harris as their party’s nominee in November if Biden chooses to drop out of the race. Their response comes as a growing number of Democrats call for the incumbent to step down after his poor performance in last month’s debate with former President Trump.
About 28% of Democrats said Harris was more likely to beat Trump than Biden. About 32% said the vice president was the same, and 24% said she was less likely to beat the former president in the fall.
More than half of Americans (51%) think Biden should definitely or probably step down and let another Democrat run. About 45% of respondents said the same, while 41% said he shouldn’t, according to the poll.
Among Democrats who think he should pass the torch, 68% said concerns about his age, health or cognitive function were the biggest reasons he should not run for reelection. About 23% cited concerns about his ability to beat Trump as the main reason.
While a significant majority of respondents said Biden should step down, few said the president was likely to do so. Only 4% of Americans said it was very likely he would step down, while 15% said it was somewhat likely. About 65% said it was very unlikely or not at all likely that he would step down.
The poll was conducted from July 13 to 16 with 1,582 respondents and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1%.
Despite numerous calls for him to step down, Biden insists he will not step down. He said Wednesday that only health issues would cause him to reevaluate his candidacy.
