A huge majority of Americans want President Biden to drop out of the race, including a majority of his own supporters, according to a Thursday poll from ABC News and the Washington Post.
A full 67% of respondents say Biden should drop out of the race, and 85% say he is too old to serve out a second term. Meanwhile, 60% of respondents also said former President Trump is too old for a second term, up from 44% in the spring of 2023.
Among Democrats and voters who said they lean Democratic, 62% say Biden needs to drop out of the race. Even among self-professed Biden supporters, 54% say he needs to drop out.
Despite this, the poll found that Biden and Trump are virtually tied, despite voters’ lack of confidence in Biden, with 46% saying they would vote for the current president and 47% saying they support Trump.
The poll found better outcomes for Democrats if Vice President Kamala Harris were to replace Biden as the party’s nominee. That poll found 49% support for Harris and 46% support for Trump.
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The Thursday poll was conducted online via the probability-based Ipsos KnowledgePanel from July 5-9. The poll was conducted in both English and Spanish and sampled 2,431 U.S. adults. The poll advertises a margin of error of 2%.
The poll comes as Biden faces a growing number of defections from Democratic lawmakers and his donor class. A number of House lawmakers have called on him to step aside, and the first Democratic senator, Peter Welch of Vermont, did the same on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, celebrity actor George Clooney led an exodus of top donors and influences on Wednesday, publishing a New York Times op-ed saying he had no confidence in Biden’s ability to serve a second term.
Biden will host his first news conference since the debate later Thursday amid the NATO summit in Washington D.C.
Biden has vowed to remain in the race despite rising concerns and calls for him to drop out and let another candidate take on Trump.
“There’s been a lot of speculation: What’s Joe going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? Is he going to drop out? What’s he going to do?” Biden said Friday in a speech in Madison, Wisconsin. “Well, here’s my answer: I am running and going to win again.”
