Former President Donald Trump has inched ahead of President Biden in the first national poll since the incumbent’s disastrous CNN debate.
The presumptive Republican nominee for president leads Biden by 1 percentage point, according to a Morning Consult poll released Monday, which also showed fewer voters than ever see the 81-year-old commander in chief as mentally fit.
The survey of more than 10,000 registered voters, conducted between June 28 and June 30, found Trump with 44% support compared to Biden’s 43% backing.
The same poll had Biden leading the 78-year-old former president as recently as June 16 – by 1 percentage point – and showed both candidates tied last week, prior to the debate, on June 23.
“The relative stasis in the race suggests Biden’s alarming debate performance might not have surprised voters as much as it surprised Democrats in Washington,” the pollster said.
However, concern over Biden’s mental and physical fitness in the aftermath of his showdown with Trump has sharply increased.
Overall, only 37% of voters said the president is mentally fit for office – down 6 points from Morning Consult’s last pre-debate survey.
The drop was driven by Democratic voters, of whom 68% believe Biden is fit enough to serve – a stunning 9 point drop from before the debate.
“Both numbers are the lowest on record,” according to the outlet, which has been posing the question to voters since 2020.
The poll also found independent voters favoring Trump over Biden (37% to 33%), and the former president retaining more support from his 2020 voters than his opponent is (89% to 82%).
Overall, only 5% of voters remain undecided and 8% indicated that they were planning to vote for a candidate other than Trump or Biden.
Last week, Biden appeared infirmed and was at times incoherent – alarming Democratic donors and strategists – during his first of two scheduled debates against Trump.
The president has faced mounting calls to end his re-election bid following his dismal performance.
A separate Morning Consult post-debate poll of 2,086 voters found that 59% of independents and 47% of Democrats agreed that Biden should be replaced as the party’s presidential candidate.
