Trump leads by 8 points as majority question Biden's age
Two studies published on Wednesday by the "New York Times" and the "Wall Street" Journal show Donald Trump's most prominent lead over Joe Biden, ranging from 6 to 8 percentage points. Most respondents also believe that the president is too old to serve. Biden declares that he "absolutely" has no intention of withdrawing from the race.
According to a survey by the "New York Times" (NYT) and Siena College, after the debate, Trump's lead among voters planning to participate in the election increased by 3 percentage points: 49% of respondents want to vote for Trump, and 43% for Biden, and this lead is even more significant when considering all registered voters. The number of respondents who believe that the 81-year-old president is too old to serve increased by 5 percentage points to 74%. As for the 78-year-old Trump, 42% expressed such an opinion.
In the "Wall Street Journal" study, Trump's lead over Biden is also 6 percentage points (48% to 42%), two more than in a similar survey in February. 76% - 7 percentage points more than in February - also believe Biden is too old (for Trump, this percentage is 56%). In both surveys, the former president's lead over the current one is the largest recorded since the start of the studies.
Calls for Biden to withdraw
Biden also faces increasingly open concerns about his chances from within his party. On Wednesday, he was called to withdraw from the race by the second Democratic congressman, Raúl Grijalva, from Arizona, a critical state for the election outcome. A similar appeal was made by Texas Congressman Lloyd Doggett, and two others - Jared Golden from Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez - stated that Biden would lose the election. Former Democratic Party leader in the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, said it is reasonable to ask whether Biden's performance in the debate was just an "episode" and called for both Biden and Trump to undergo examinations.
Despite these calls, the president declared during a teleconference with his staff on Wednesday that he intends to continue to run.
- No one is pushing me out. I'm not leaving. I'm in this race to the end, and WE are going to win this election - he stated, quoted by NBC News.
The White House spokeswoman, Karine Jean-Pierre, spoke equally clearly about Biden's intentions, claiming that Biden told her that he "absolutely" does not intend to withdraw from the race.
