Almost two-thirds of Democrats want Biden to withdraw, 7 in 10 Americans overall think so

A new poll by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research has revealed that nearly two-thirds of Democrats believe President Joe Biden should withdraw from the presidential race and allow another candidate to be nominated.

What's more, the poll shows that 70% of Americans think Biden should drop out, with Democrats only slightly less likely than Republicans and independents to hold this view. Black Democrats emerge as Biden's strongest supporters, with about half indicating he should continue running, compared to roughly 3 in 10 white and Hispanic Democrats.

Other revealing insights from the poll include:

• Only about 3 in 10 Democrats are extremely or very confident in Biden's mental capability to serve effectively as president, a slight decline from 40% in a similar poll conducted in February.
• Younger Democrats are especially inclined to want Biden to step aside, with three-quarters of those under 45 supporting his withdrawal, compared to about 6 in 10 of older Democrats.

The findings highlight the challenges faced by the 81-year-old president as he attempts to quell internal calls to step down and persuade Democrats that he remains the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump.

Making matters even tougher, the poll was mostly conducted before a busy week that featured an assassination attempt on Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania and the selection of JD Vance as the Republican's running mate. Both episodes are considered to weigh in heavily on voter intent.

As for Trump, the poll reveals that Americans are more likely to believe he is capable of winning the 2024 election than Biden, with 42% favoring the Republican compared to 18% for the Democrat. Among Democrats, only about a third believe Biden is more capable of winning than Trump.

When it comes to handling a crisis, 38% of Americans favor Trump, while 28% prefer Biden. However, Biden is seen as more honest than Trump by 40% of adults.

Another recent poll by AP-NORC revealed that Trump has made advances with the Latino and Black electorate, but he is still somewhat or very unfavorable among many of them. According to the study, about 4 in 10 of Hispanic Americans have a somewhat or very unfavorable view of Trump (up from 3 in 10 in months prior), with that number go up to 7 in 10 among Black Americans.