Nearly three-fourths of Americans support Biden withdrawing from 2024 US presidential race - poll

Following US President Joe Biden’s debate performance, seven out of ten Americans, including 65% of Democrats, believe he should withdraw from the race, according to a poll conducted July 11-15, 2024, using the probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago, published on Wednesday. 

The survey's margin of error is +/- 3.8 percent. 

In comparison, 57% of Americans, including only 26% of Republicans, believe former president Donald Trump should withdraw from the presidential race. 

Black Democratic voters, 50% of whom support Biden staying in the race, are among the most supportive. Only about a third of white Democrats and Hispanic Democrats, respectively, believe Biden should remain in the race.  

Among young Democrats between 18 and 44, 75% believe Biden should withdraw from the race, while 57% of those above 45 feel the same.

The public is ten percent more supportive of Trump as the Republican nominee than Biden as the Democratic nominee, at 32% and 22%, respectively. 

Additionally, Democrats' satisfaction with Biden decreased from 42% in June to 37% in July. 

Confidence in mental capacity

Among Americans, 70% are not confident in Biden’s mental capacity to be president compared to 51% who are not confident in Trump’s mental capacity for the job. 

Among Democrats, this confidence in Biden’s mental capacity decreased from 40% in February to 27% in July. 

Honesty, handling a crisis, and a vision for the United States

Of the US public, 40% view Biden as more honest than Trump, and 21% view Trump as more honest than Biden.

The US public is likelier to think Trump can win the 2024 election than Biden. In addition, Trump is more likely to be viewed as capable of handling a crisis, at 38%, compared to the 28% who believe Biden is more capable of handling a crisis. 

In terms of having a better vision of the country, this metric was divided along party lines. About a third of adults say Biden has the better vision for the country, including about 70% of Democrats. Another third of the respondents said that Trump has a better vision, including about 70% of the Republicans.

Biden and Trump’s favorability ratings have remained steady, with each having a 60% unfavorability rating.

Forty-three percent of adults, including 74% of Democrats, have a favorable opinion of Vice President Kamala Harris. Most of the public does not know enough about Senator J.D. Vance to have an opinion. J.D. Vance was named as Trump’s running mate after completing the survey.