Almost half of Democrats say Biden should step aside in new poll

Nearly half of Democratic voters in a new survey say President Biden should step aside and not accept the party’s nomination to lead the ticket heading into November.

In a CBS News/YouGov poll released Sunday, 45 percent of Democratic registered voters surveyed said Biden should step aside, while 55 percent said he should continue running, in response to a question asking whether Biden should be the nominee.

Asked whether Biden should be running for president, 54 percent of Democratic voters said he should — a 10-point drop from the 64 percent of Democratic voters who answered the same way in a February 2024 poll. Similarly, 46 percent of Democratic voters say he should not be running, up 10 points from February.

The poll comes after Biden’s shaky performance in the Thursday debate sparked some concerns among Democrats about whether he should continue leading the ticket.

A concerted effort from the White House and the Biden campaign has sought to quell concerns, noting he had a cold during the debate. Many allies have also pointed to Biden’s demeanor and remarks at subsequent events, including a watch party stop after the debate and a campaign event in North Carolina, as evidence that Biden simply had a bad night.

A majority of Democrats (59 percent) surveyed say, when asked, that Biden has the mental and cognitive health to serve as president, but that marks a significant drop from just a few weeks ago — on June 9, 2024 — when 71 percent said the same.

The CBS News/YouGov poll surveyed 1,130 registered voters from June 28 to 29, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points. Among Democratic registered voters, the margin of error is plus or minus 6.8 percentage points.