Joe Biden and Donald Trump's first debate was concerning, to say the least, and left many voters questioning whether or not the current U.S. President is fit for another term. As a result, there have been countless demands for a switch up to the Democratic ticket. Of course, Vice President Kamala Harris would be the easiest replacement, though it was previously unclear how she might perform against Trump.
Now, The New York Times reports that the Biden-Harris campaign has been quietly conducting a survey to figure this out, according to three unnamed sources. They also added that some of the president's top aides are skeptical of her ability to outperform Biden and are wary of putting any faith in hypothetical polling. It's unclear at the time of writing what the campaign plans to do with its purported findings, whether it be to prove that Biden is still the strongest option or the opposite.
White House Spokesperson Denies Secret Survey Reports
Andrew Bates, a White House spokesperson, denies reports of a secret survey. "Unequivocally, this is not true," he told PEOPLE. "President Biden’s team is strongly behind him." The reports arrive shortly after NBC News chatted with three individuals "directly involved" in his campaign efforts, who claimed that the debate fallout has shaken their confidence. “He needs to drop out,” one of them explained, “He will never recover from this.” Another said, “No one involved in the effort thinks he has a path."
“The question for me, and a lot of us, is: Who is the best person to beat Donald Trump?” someone else asked at the time. “There are a lot of us that are true blue that are questioning our initial thoughts on that.” Again, Biden campaign spokesman TJ Ducklo shut down these reports, insisting that the president's team stands behind him. What do you think of reports that the Biden-Harris campaign has been conducting a secret survey to determine how well Harris would perform against Donald Trump? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below, and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates.