A new poll released on Thursday indicates that more than half of Democrats want Joe Biden to end his reelection campaign for the presidency following his disastrous performance against Donald Trump in the presidential debate, although the competition remains fierce. Both candidates received 46% support among registered voters in the survey conducted by the Washington Post, ABC News, and Ipsos, and the result is nearly identical to the ABC News and Ipsos poll in April.
About 56% of Democrats and two-thirds of Americans overall want Biden to withdraw from the race for the White House. Half of the participants in the poll stated that his Republican rival should also withdraw. If Vice President Kamala Harris were to replace Biden as the Democratic candidate, she would fare better, according to the poll, garnering 49% compared to 47% for Trump.
Biden, 81 years old, is facing increasing calls from Democrats to end his campaign amid doubts about his mental competence, sparked by his performance in the debate in Atlanta last month, where he struggled to finish sentences or convey a coherent idea. Although others, including former influential House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have not gone as far as urging Biden to resign, they emphasize that he needs to make a quick decision about his future, even as Biden insists on moving forward.
Hollywood star and prominent Democratic supporter George Clooney has intensified pressure on Biden through an op-ed in which he called on him to withdraw, just weeks after attending a fundraiser for him.
All eyes are on Biden's first press conference following the debate on Thursday during the NATO summit in Washington, which could be a potential turning point determining the fate of his presidential future. Biden has held fewer press conferences than his predecessors and rarely conducts interviews, prompting critics to accuse the White House of trying to conceal the effects of age on the oldest serving U.S. president.
About 85% of participants in the new poll indicated that Biden's advanced age does not permit him a second term, an increase from 81% in April and 68% about a year ago, while 60% say that Trump is also elderly. Trump received 55% in the April survey.
