Kamala Harris Would Outperform Biden in 2024 Matchup Against Trump: Poll

Vice President Kamala Harris could have a stronger lead over Donald Trump than President Joe Biden in the 2024 election, according to a new poll. 

A CNN poll conducted by SSRS and published on Tuesday, July 2, found that three-quarters of Americans who were polled and are registered to vote think the Democratic Party could take the top spot in the 2024 presidential election if there were an option other than Biden, who is 81. 

According to the poll, Trump, 78, currently has a 6-point lead against Biden — 49% to 43%. The news outlet pointed out that the findings are the same results from a national poll on the presidential election that it conducted in April.

In a hypothetical matchup presented to poll respondents, Harris, 59, had a tighter score — coming in just two points behind Trump with 45% to his 47%. 

The poll comes less than a week after the current and former president of the U.S. faced off in a June 27 presidential debate in Atlanta.

On June 28, amid criticism of his debate performance, Biden — the oldest president in U.S. history — publicly addressed concerns about his stage presence, doing his best to assure supporters at a rally in Raleigh, N.C., that he was still the best man for the job. 

“I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to,” he said. “But I know what I do know, I know how to tell the truth!”

Others also spoke in support of Biden.

“Joe Biden is extraordinarily strong,” Harris told CNN’s Anderson Cooper during a televised appearance after the debate.

“It was a slow start, that’s obvious to everyone. I’m not going to debate that,” she said. “He got into a groove where it counted. Our president showed that he will win the election.”

Barack Obama expressed his support for his former vice president as well. 

“Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself,” Obama, 62, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on June 28. 

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Biden has said he has no plans to exit the race and is preparing to debate Trump a second time in September.

“NEW, as just reported on @CNN: Not only does @POTUS not plan to drop out, Biden remains committed to a second debate in September, an adviser tells me,” CNN’s Senior White House correspondent Kayla Tausche tweeted on June 28.

According to pool reports from a fundraiser in Virginia on Tuesday, Biden told reporters he “almost fell asleep onstage” during the debate due to a grueling traveling schedule, reports CNN. “I decided to travel around the world a couple of times … shortly before the debate … I didn’t listen to my staff … and then I almost fell asleep onstage,” he said.