Roughly 44 percent of respondents in a new survey say it’s likely that President Biden will withdraw from the 2024 race, even as the president himself insists otherwise.
The YouGov poll, released Friday, found that voters are generally split on what they think the president will do, as calls continue to mount for the incumbent to step aside and make room for another candidate to challenge Trump in November.
Just over 15 percent of respondents said was “very likely” that Biden will drop out while 28 percent said it was only “somewhat likely” to happen. On the other side, 24 percent said it was “not very likely” for him to withdraw, and 14 percent said it’s “not likely” at all. Roughly 18 percent were unsure, per the survey.
Independent voters were more likely to say they unsure of what decision the president would make. Republicans, however, were the most likely to say he will step aside. Numbers across political parties were fairly equal for “somewhat likely,” “not very likely” and “not at all likely,” according to the poll.
Voters also tend to be split on what could happen if a new candidate was chosen to top the Democratic ticket.
A separate survey from YouGov found that if Biden were to step aside, just 25 percent say the new candidate would make a better president. Around 37 percent said they think a new candidate would be about the same as Biden, 28 percent were unsure and 10 percent said they think a replacement for Biden would be worse.
Still, voters were more likely to say that a different candidate would have a better chance of overcoming former President Trump, who formally accepted the GOP nomination Thursday at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, in November.
A third YouGov survey found that 33 percent said the new nominee would be more likely to win and 26 percent said they would have about the same chance as Biden against the former president. Just under 15 percent said a Biden replacement candidate would be less likely to win and 27 percent were unsure.
The three surveys were conducted July 19 among 4,309 adults.