A new poll shows some Democratic voters are growing concerned about Joe Biden’s mental fitness to serve as president after a shaky performance at Thursday’s debate.
A CBS News/YouGov poll released on Sunday showed that 72% of registered voters believe the president’s mental and cognitive health is unfit to serve as president, a significant increase from 65% in an earlier poll.
Forty-nine percent of voters said the same about former President Trump.
Of particular concern for the Biden campaign is that 45% of registered Democrats who responded to the poll said they believed the president should give way to another candidate.
Concerns about the ages of the two candidates — Biden is 81 and Trump is 78 — had existed before Thursday’s debate. However, Biden’s hoarse voice and vague answers have once again raised concerns among some Democrats about his candidacy and calls for Biden to step down.
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, a Democrat and White House ally, called it a “difficult situation” in an interview with MSNBC on Sunday.
“We are having very honest, serious and rigorous conversations at all levels of our party,” he said, though he stressed that the final decision remains Biden’s.
He added: “Our party will be united no matter what President Biden decides, and our party needs him to be at the center of our campaign deliberations.”
In the days following the debate, first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama also acknowledged that it was not Biden’s best performance.
But they and many other Democratic allies have resisted calls for Biden to step down.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told MSNBC on Sunday that the president’s debate performance “was a setback. But, of course, I believe the setback is just a setup for a comeback.”
The poll, from BBC America partner CBS News and polling group YouGov, contrasts with a memo shared by Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley on Saturday. It claimed that internal polling showed that it was the “Belttown class” that was ruling out Biden, not Americans across the country.
But interviews with voters after the debate backed up the concerns expressed in the CBS News poll. Voters told BBC News they were worried about the president after his performance.
“I have less confidence than ever in Biden’s ability to lead this country today,” one Democratic voter told the BBC after the debate.
As concerns grew, the president’s campaign surrogates appeared on a range of US political shows on Sunday morning.
Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, a close ally of the president’s and campaign co-chairman, launched into a spirited defense of the president on ABC News’ “This Week.”
“Joe Biden has an incredible record and he knows, like the American people, that when you get knocked down, you get up and fight harder,” the senator said. “That’s who he is. Plan to do something.
When Coons was asked about the president’s mental health, he sidestepped and expressed concern about Trump. He also would not say whether Biden is listening to growing concerns about his age and stability.
“He’s the only Democrat who can defeat Donald Trump,” Mr. Coons said of the president.
Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock said on NBC News’ Meet the Press that the president “absolutely should not” drop out of the race.
“There were several Sundays when I wished I had preached a better sermon,” said Mr. Warnock, a pastor.
“But after the sermon, my job is to embody that message and show up for the people I serve. That’s what Joe Biden has been doing.”
Meanwhile, Republicans stepped up criticism of the president’s performance, saying it showed Trump was the right choice.
“Joe Biden’s performance has been disastrous, and that’s why they’re talking about replacing him,” Republican Senator J.D. Vance said on Fox News on Sunday.
Mr. Vance said Trump was engaging, entertaining and had “good manners” during the debate.
“That’s what you need to be president of the United States and contrast that with Joe Biden, who can’t seem to finish a sentence,” he said.
