Voters want Biden out, reject Harris as replacement

For a week, White House and Democratic officials have been telling the media that President Joe Biden will base his decision to stay in or drop out of the 2024 reelection on polls following his disastrous debate with former President Donald Trump.

One poll arrived on Friday, and it’s not good for Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris.

Rasmussen Reports asked voters directly what Biden and Harris should do, and they made it clear that they want a totally new 2024 ticket to choose from.

In the survey shared with Secrets on Friday morning, 55% said that Biden should get out of the presidential election. And 50% said that the party should skip over Harris in picking a replacement for Biden.

“Importantly, nearly half (48%) of Democratic voters at least somewhat agree that Biden should step aside and let the Democratic Party choose another candidate,” the survey outlet said.

Biden said on Thursday that he is not getting out of the race, and his staff has signaled that they plan to keep him on the campaign trail. However, the president also said that he tires easily and needs to end his day at sundown.

Meanwhile, Harris has seen her odds of replacing Biden rise. She is also getting more attention from Democratic officials as they judge it hard to overlook her as the 2024 nominee if Biden steps aside.

Such a move would be historic and especially swift. In the lead-up to last week’s debate with Trump, White House and Democratic officials said that Biden has never been more alert and vigorous. In the debate he appeared sleepy and confused.

A second poll, from Cygnal, also showed the Democratic ticket in trouble. Most said Trump won and slammed Biden’s performance. And they also showed little faith in Harris.

“Post-debate, we’ve seen the largest single month-over-month movement towards Republicans across-the-board, from R+0 to R+4, in the history of our national polling,” said pollster and Cygnal President Brent Buchanan. “President Biden’s image worsened to 62% having an unfavorable view of him after 67% of respondents said they watched his disastrous debate performance.”

Buchanan added, “Trump’s performance earned him 4 points of undecided debate-watchers and another 3 points from those who were Biden supporters heading into the debate. There’s little question this has further eroded the political environment for Democrats.”

Rasmussen’s results should not be a surprise to the White House. It and other pollsters have been reporting for months that Democratic voters want Biden and Harris pushed aside. However, the duo easily won renomination and are locked in as the party’s choice as it prepares for next month’s convention in Chicago.

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Democrats have tried to shift the focus on Trump and claim that he also gave a bad debate performance. But in the survey, 57% said Trump won to 22% who picked Biden, a 35-point gap.

The survey also showed that it isn’t clear that Harris is the choice of Democrats to replace Biden. Asked if she should get top billing on the 2024 ticket, 45% said the party would be “better off” picking Harris, but 39% rejected her.