79 percent of Democrats approve of Harris replacing Biden if he steps aside: poll

An overwhelming majority of Democrats say they approve of Vice President Harris replacing President Biden at the top of the ticket if he decides to step aside, according to a new poll.

The new economist/YouGov survey, released Thursday, found that 79 percent of Democrats would support Harris for the party’s nomination in November if Biden decided to withdraw from the race. His response comes as a growing number of Democrats call for the incumbent to resign following a poor debate performance against former President Trump last month.

About 28 percent of Democrats said Harris was more likely than Biden to beat Trump. About 32 percent said the vice president was equally likely and 24 percent said she was less likely to defeat the former president in the fall.

More than half — or 51 percent — of Americans believe Biden should definitely or probably step aside and allow another Democrat to run. Just under 45% of respondents said the same, while 41% said it shouldn’t, according to the survey.

Among Democrats who think he should pass the torch, 68 percent said concerns about his age, health or cognitive function are the biggest reason he should end his reelection bid. About 23 percent listed concerns surrounding his ability to defeat Trump as the main reason.

While most respondents said Biden should step aside, few said the president was likely to do so. Just 4% of Americans said it was very likely he would withdraw, and 15% said it was somewhat likely. About 65 percent said it was not very likely or not at all likely that he would drop out of the race.

The survey was carried out among 1,582 respondents between July 13 and 16 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Despite numerous calls for him to step aside, Biden has said he will not give up. He said Wednesday that only a medical condition would make him reevaluate his candidacy.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story