Three-quarters of voters believe Democrats are more likely to win the 2024 election with a different candidate than President Biden, according to a CNN poll published Tuesday.
Biden’s first debate performance raised alarms among some Democrats and supporters, with the president struggling to string ideas together or rebut former President Trump’s many false statements. Critics of the president have floated replacing him on the party’s presidential ticket with Vice President Harris or another younger Democratic star.
A majority of Democrats and left-leaning independents, 56 percent, said the party is more likely to win in November without Biden, according to the poll.
In a head-to-head match-up, Trump holds a 6-point lead over Biden nationally, which is the same lead as in April’s CNN poll.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) on Tuesday became the first member of Congress to publicly call for Biden to end his campaign, as the president also faces pressure from donors to reshape his campaign.
The CNN poll also asked voters about potential replacements for Biden. Harris fared the best, trailing Trump by only 2 points, within the margin of error.
Several other prominent Democrats outperformed Biden in polling, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The Biden campaign has quickly shut down any notion that the president would leave the 2024 race.
“Of course he’s not dropping out,” Biden campaign spokesperson Seth Schuster said in a text message shortly after last week’s debate.
Biden’s favorability rating also fell in the CNN poll to 34 percent, the lowest figure recorded by the outlet.
The race remains close overall, with Trump leading Biden by 0.6 percentage points in The Hill/Decision Desk HQ average of national polls.
