Michelle Obama only Democrat to beat Trump in new poll
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(The Hill) — Former first lady Michelle Obama is the only Democrat to overtake former President Donald Trump in a new poll released Tuesday.
The survey, conducted by Reuters/Ipsos, found that Obama was the only Democrat to surpass Trump in a hypothetical matchup, garnering 50 percent support to his 39 percent. Only 4 percent of respondents said they would not vote at all.
Meanwhile, the poll found that in a head-to-head matchup, President Joe Biden and Trump are neck-and-neck. They each received 40 percent of the vote, while 8 percent said they would vote for someone else, and another 8 percent said they would not vote.
Obama was the top choice among Democrats to replace Biden on the 2024 ticket, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released in February. Despite her popularity, the former first lady has repeatedly said she will not pursue a bid for the White House.
The poll comes after a rocky debate performance from Biden last week, where he appeared to stumble over his words and lacked energy. The poor showing has prompted some Democrats to call for him to step down from the ballot and make room for someone else to take the reins.
Other Democrats floated as potential replacements to Biden in the poll included Vice President Kamala Harris, who received 42 percent in a head-to-head matchup with Trump, who received 43 percent. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) trailed Trump by 3 percentage points and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) trailed by 5 points in a hypothetical contest with the presumptive GOP nominee.
While the Reuters/Ipsos poll does not show Biden losing ground behind Trump, other post-debate polls have shown that he is. The survey did find, however, that about 1 in 3 Democrats believe Biden should drop out of the race.
The White House and the Biden campaign have tried to quell concerns about the debate performance in recent days and have dismissed the calls for the president to suspend his campaign.
The poll was conducted online July 1-2 among 1,070 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
