A recent Harvard HarrisX Poll has highlighted American voters’ concerns about President Joe Biden’s age and mental fitness, and indicated three current GOP candidates who are currently more popular than Biden.
The poll, conducted from September 12-14, reveals that 69 percent of registered voters believe Biden is too old to run for President again at the age of 80, and 58 percent think he is mentally unfit for office. This concern over age has been increasingly evident as both Biden and former President Donald Trump would surpass the previous record of being the oldest President ever inaugurated, a record set by Biden in 2020.
The same poll also suggests that three GOP candidates would beat Biden in a hypothetical general election: Donald Trump, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. Despite most polls showing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a close second to Trump, he does not beat out Biden in a head-to-head matchup.
In the Republican primary election, 57 percent of respondents said they would vote for Trump, with DeSantis coming in a distant second with just 10 percent. Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy was third with 8 percent. However, while DeSantis doesn’t beat Biden in a match-up, other candidates who are polling lower than him, such as Haley and Scott, are shown to be beating Biden in hypothetical general elections.
Both Trump and Haley would defeat Biden by 41 percent to 37 percent if they were to face off in a general election. Scott would beat Biden with a 2 percent gap.
Former Vice President Mike Pence has the largest gap with the President, with the HarrisX poll showing him losing by six points with 36 percent support to Biden’s 42 percent.
Looking towards the 2024 primary, if Trump were not in the race, DeSantis and Ramaswamy are closely matched in support, with DeSantis having just a 1 percent edge over the political newcomer.
