US Presidential polls 2024: Kamala Harris favoured over Joe Biden, CNN poll shows; pressure grows for Biden to step down | Today News

US Presidential polls 2024: A recent CNN poll shows Vice President Kamala Harris has a better chance of winning the upcoming US presidential election in November than President Joe Biden. Biden’s approval rating of 81 has dropped sharply following his poor debate performance in Atlanta last week against Donald Trump. Since the debate, there has been growing support within the Democratic Party for Biden to resign and allow another candidate to lead the charge for the crucial November 5 election.

According to the CNN poll by SRS, Trump leads Biden by six points.

The poll also indicates that Harris is competitive against Trump in a theoretical matchup, with 47 per cent of registered voters favouring Trump and 45 per cent favouring Harris. This result falls within the margin of error, suggesting no definitive frontrunner in such a scenario.

The poll notes, “Harris’ slightly stronger performance against Trump is partly due to broader support among women (50% favour Harris over Trump compared to 44% for Biden against Trump) and independents (43% favour Harris vs 34% for Biden).”

Biden attributes poor debate performance to exhaustion from global travel.

Speaking at a campaign event in Virginia on Tuesday evening without a teleprompter, Joe Biden acknowledged his debate performance was subpar, attributing it to lack of sleep. He mentioned his campaign had raised $38 million since the debate.

“I made a mistake. I travelled around the world a few times, through about 100 time zones … before … the debate. I didn’t listen to my staff, so I returned and almost fell asleep on stage,” Biden admitted. “That’s not an excuse, but it’s an explanation.”

Whether Biden continues his 2024 bid for president after his halting debate performance against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is primarily his decision, Democrats and political strategists have said.

However, Biden is facing increasing pressure. Some donors have urged him to withdraw, and other Democrats are openly expressing doubts about his ability to defeat Trump in November.

According to a House Democratic aide, 25 Democratic members of the House of Representatives are preparing to call for Biden to step aside. Another aide noted that moderate House Democrats from competitive districts are considering addressing their concerns to Biden directly after facing intense questioning from constituents this week.

“It appears that opinions are shifting,” the source commented.

After the debate, a Reuters/Ipsos poll indicated that one in three Democrats believes Biden should end his re-election campaign.

Biden’s verbal missteps and occasionally rambling responses during the debate have heightened concern.