Michelle Obama leads all potential Biden replacements, would beat Trump by double digits: poll
Former first lady Michelle Obama — who has never expressed any desire to run for office — would easily beat former President Donald Trump in a head-to-head matchup, according to a new poll, the only hypothetical Democratic successor to President Biden to do so.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday found Michelle, 60, trouncing Trump, 78, by 11 percentage points, 50% to 39%, among registered voters.
The other matchups show Biden even with Trump at 40% each, while the 45th president defeats Vice President Kamala Harris by a single percentage point (43%-42%).
The 45th president also would triumph over a slate of Democratic governors potentially in line to replace Biden, including California’s Gavin Newsom, Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, Kentucky’s Andy Beshear and Illinois’ J.B. Pritzker.
While her husband Barack publicly came to Biden’s defense following his debate flop against Trump last week, Michelle Obama has been keeping her distance from the first family throughout the re-election cycle.
Michelle, who enjoys favorable opinion among voters, according to the Reuters/Ipsos survey, maintained close ties to Hunter Biden’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle during the Obama administration — and is reportedly steamed about her friend being exiled by the first family.
She also explicitly declined to back Biden, 81, when asked about the president’s re-election campaign during a 2022 interview.
Barack Obama has appeared at fundraisers for Biden throughout the 2024 election cycle — most recently to help him offstage July 15 after a huge haul from Hollywood donors who watched ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel interview the pair at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
The 44th president didn’t mince words about his former VP delivering a “bad” performance against Trump at the CNN-hosted debate June 27, adding that Democrats should still support Biden.
Privately, Obama has expressed concerns that the race may already be over — after previously casting doubts on Biden’s ability to pull off a win during his 2020 run for the presidency.
Unless he steps down voluntarily, Biden will almost certainly be the Democratic nominee in 2024.
On Wednesday, the 81-year-old reassured his campaign staff of his intentions to stay in the race — but reportedly griped to a close ally that he may be finished if his polling numbers continue to fall amid subsequent public appearances.
According to the Reuters/Ipsos poll, more than half (56%) of Americans say Biden should drop out, while 46% say Trump should suspend his campaign.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted July 1-2 and surveyed 1,070 US adults, 892 of whom were registered voters.
The margins of error were plus or minus 3.2 percentage points for all respondents and 3.5 percentage points for registered voters who responded.
