The first major poll since President Biden’s disastrous debate performance revealed that more voters — including many Democrats — are voicing concerns about his cognitive abilities.
A CBS News/YouGov Poll released Sunday found that 72% of registered voters do not believe Mr. Biden has the mental and cognitive health to serve as president. That’s up from 65% from a CBS News/YouGov Poll taken two weeks before last Thursday’s debate.
Among Democrats, 41% said Mr. Biden does not have the mental and cognitive health to serve as president, versus 59% who said he did. By contrast, just 29% of Democrats said he wasn’t mentally up for the job in the same poll two weeks ago while 71% said he was.
The same poll found that among registered voters, 49% say former President Donald Trump doesn’t have the mental and cognitive health to serve as president, compared to 50% who say he does.
An overwhelming 72% of voters in Sunday’s poll said Mr. Biden should not be running for president, a significant increase from the 63% who said the same in a February CBS News/YouGov poll. Less than one-third of respondents (28%) said Mr. Biden should be running.
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Among Democrats, 46% said Mr. Biden should not be running for president, while 54% said he should run. The same poll in February found that only 36% of Democrats believed Mr. Biden should not seek a second term, compared to 64% who said he should.
But a majority of Democrats (55%) say that Mr. Biden should remain the nominee, compared to 45% who say he should step aside.
Among voters overall who said Mr. Biden shouldn’t be running again, 86% cited his age, followed by the decisions he might make in office (71%), his record as president (66%) and his ability to campaign effectively (59%).
The poll also found that registered voters overwhelmingly believed Mr. Trump won the debate.
Voters said Mr. Trump presented ideas more clearly than Mr. Biden (47% to 21%), appeared more presidential (46% to 28%), inspired more confidence (44% to 18%) and more explained plans and policies (43% to 35%).
However, more voters viewed Mr. Biden as telling the truth compared to Mr. Trump (40% to 32%).
The pollsters surveyed 1,130 registered voters between June 28-29, and the poll has an error margin of 4.2 percentage points.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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