While no action has been taken by the Democratic party to remove President Joe Biden as its nominee, many are wondering if his number two could fill in and take down former President Donald Trump.
Following last Thursday’s debate, many inside and out of the Democratic party began to show worry over Biden’s ability to win and effectively serve a second term after the 81-year-old struggled against his Republican adversary.
Experts, columnists, commentators, and more have all offered their thoughts on what Biden should do, with some saying he should stand firm, while others have called for him to step down.
If Biden were to step down, several names would be thrown into the mix, as Democrats could look to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, or Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
But among the top names is Biden’s right-hand woman, Vice President Kamala Harris.
According to polling averages from RealClearPolling, Harris is trailing against Trump in the limited number of surveys that match the two up against each other. In the hypothetical, Trump leads Harris by 6.6%.
In the pollster’s averages of a Trump versus Biden matchup, Trump leads the president by 1.5%.
Among the polls that have examined Harris potentially squaring off against the former president was one from Politico and Morning Consult conducted earlier this month.
That poll found that only a third of voters thought it likely the vice president would win the election if she became the nominee.
Even worse, only 60% of Democrats thought she would win the White House if she ran as the top name on the ballot for the party.
After the debate on Thursday, Harris spoke with CNN and Anderson Cooper about Biden’s performance, which she defended while admitting he had a “slow start” but that he also had a “strong finish.”
“What we saw tonight was the president making a very clear contrast with Donald Trump on all the issues that matter to the American people,” she said.
At one point, the vice president pushed back on Cooper, who had said Biden’s performance disappointed his supporters and those watching.
“I’m not going to spend all night with you talking about the last 90 minutes when I’ve been watching the last three and a half years of performance,” she said.