Biden faces mounting dissent from Democrats to quit election race

A new poll has found that nearly a third of Democrats believe US President Joe Biden should withdraw from the 2024 presidential election race, citing concerns over his ability to carry out another four-year term.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll, published on Tuesday, said 32 percent of Democrats think Biden should end his reelection bid following the president’s performance in the first presidential debate with Republican contender Donald Trump last week, ahead of the upcoming presidential election scheduled for November.

The poll, however, suggested that both Trump, 78, and Biden, 81, maintain the support of 40 percent of registered voters, adding that Biden has not lost ground since the debate.

During the first round of debates between the presumptive nominees last week, Biden seemed to lose his chain of thought at several points, raising serious concerns among his fellow Democrats, friends and family members about the 81-year-old's health and mental aptitude.

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At his first presidential rally following the debate, Biden gave no indication he would step down, insisting he is capable of beating Trump. However, Biden acknowledged that he doesn't debate "as well as I used to.”

Biden's team, who tried to justify the incumbent’s weak performance during the debate, also said the president had been suffering from a cold and was “over-prepared and relying on minutiae.”

Lloyd Doggett, a House representative from Texas, became the first sitting member of the Democratic Party to publicly call on Biden to quit the race.

An unnamed House Democrat also told the Axios news website, "Some of us don't want to wake up on Nov. 6 kicking ourselves because we had all of these red flags and warnings and we couldn't muster the courage to do something about it."

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also said at a briefing on Tuesday, "We understand the concerns. We get it. The president did not have a great night ... [but] he knows how to do the job."

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online July 1-2 and surveyed 1,070 US adults nationwide.

In a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in January, while the party's nomination contest was still under way, 49% of Democrats also said Biden should not run again in 2024.

Meanwhile, among the names of top Democrats put before respondents as potential replacements should Biden step aside, only Michelle Obama, wife of former Democratic President Barack Obama, outperformed Biden, leading Trump 50% to 39% in a hypothetical matchup.

Vice President Harris fell behind Trump by 1 point, 42 percent support to 43 percent, a difference that fell within the poll’s 3.5 percentage point margin of error, making Harris' showing statistically just as strong as Biden's.

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California Governor Gavin Newsom also performed marginally worse, trailing Trump 39% to 42%, while Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer sat behind Trump 36% to 41%, and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker had 34% support compared to Trump's 40%.

Biden, who has already won the primaries, is facing mounting pressure from Democratic Party to step aside. The decision is ultimately up to him. The Biden campaign said last week he is not going anywhere.

The second and final debate of the presumptive nominees is scheduled for September 10, 2024.

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