Joe Biden’s dismal performance against Donald Trump at the first debate has stirred talks of the president being replaced as the Democratic party’s candidate. A new flash poll assessed debate viewership and voter opinions on the debate’s outcome.
Biden Vs. Trump – Approval Rating: Merely 32% of the respondents who watched or read about the debate approved Biden’s performance, Data for Progress’ flash poll showed. The percentage was a steeper 63% among Democrats.
The June 28 survey contacted 1,011 likely voters nationwide. The margin of error associated with the sample size is ±3 percentage points.
On the other hand, 51% of likely voters who watched or read about the debate approved of Trump’s performance.
The net approval rating for Biden was a negative 50 points among independents compared to a negative 5 points for Trump. Among Republicans, the net approval ratings for Biden and Trump were at -85 points and +84 points, respectively.
Biden Vs. Trump: The Winner Is… The percentage of likely voters who said Biden won the debate was a more modest 30%, while 62% said Trump came out on top. Eight percent said they did not know. Ninety-five percent of Republicans and 68% of independents said the former president won the debate, while only 27% of Democrats named Trump as the winner. Sixty-one percent of Democrats picked Biden as the winner.
Biden’s Age A Pushback? Sixty-seven percent of voters said Biden was too old to be president, while 35% said the same about Trump. The pollster noted that the percentage of likely voters who said Biden was old was almost similar to the responses received before and after his State of the Union address.
Following the debate, 53% of voters said they were more concerned about Biden's age and physical and mental health, up three points from an earlier survey done in late April, while a more modest 42% said they were more concerned about Trump's criminal charges and threats to democracy.
Alternatives To Biden? In a two-way matchup between Biden and Trump, the latter edged out the former by a 48%-45% margin. While Trump’s vote share remained relatively stable, the number of respondents who answered “don’t know” grew.
The survey also asked voters about hypothetical matchups between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Governor Joshua Shapiro, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois Governor Jay Pritzker, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)
Harris performed the same as Biden in a head-to-head matchup against Trump, and no other alternative candidate performed significantly better than Biden against Trump in a head-to-head race.
When asked who should replace Biden as the Democratic nominee if he were to drop out, Harris received 39% of the votes, followed by Newsom with 18% and Buttigieg with 10%.
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