The majority of Democrats WANT Biden to debate RFK. Jr.
The majority of Democrats WANT Biden to debate RFK. Jr: The president is being pressured to take the stage with his challenger as he hits the campaign trail
- A new survey found that 57.5 percent of Democrats would like to see President Joe Biden debate his polling rival, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
- Even more Republicans and independents wanted to see gaffe-prone Biden debate the prominent anti-vaxxer
- Political parties do not hold primary debates when a sitting White House president is in office
A majority of Democrats want President Joe Biden to hold a primary debate against his top poll rival, prominent anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
An investigation by the Trafalgar Group released last week showed that 57.5 percent of Democrats polled believe Biden should debate Kennedy, which currently polls around 16 percent.
Another 31.7 percent said Biden should not debate Kennedy, the son of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and cousin of President John F. Kennedy.
Even larger groups of independents and Republicans wanted to see Biden debate Kennedy — pitting the 80-year-old, gaffe-prone president against one of the country’s most prolific purveyors of vaccine-related conspiracy theories.
While the Democratic National Committee has yet to officially announce that there will be no primary debates, it is a decades-long tradition that political parties will do nothing to hurt a White House incumbent, including pitting them against longshot candidates.
Even a majority of Democrats want President Joe Biden to debate his top poll rival, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
There were no debates scheduled by the Republican National Committee in 2020 when former President Donald Trump ran for re-election, and President Barack Obama didn’t have to worry about any Democrats when he ran for a second term in 2012.
Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld and Representatives Joe Walsh and Mark Sanford attempted to challenge Trump during the 2020 cycle.
A handful of Democrats who had never held political office challenged Obama during the 2012 cycle, including perennial candidates John Wolfe, Jr. and Darcy Richardson, inmate Keith Russell Judd, and anti-abortion activist Randall Terry.
Republicans and independents loved the idea that Biden should debate Kennedy.
Of Republicans, 92.8 percent said they wanted to see the Democratic primary debate.
Of those without party affiliation, 80.1 percent said they wanted to see a Biden-Kennedy showdown.
Biden is also being challenged for the Democratic nomination by spiritual guru Marianne Williamson.
She is below Kennedy by 6.1 percent, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average.
President Joe Biden (left) is challenged for the 2024 Democratic nomination by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (right) and spiritual guru Marianne Williamson
Williamson also ran for the 2020 Democratic nomination.
The Trafalgar Group investigation also raised questions about Biden’s age, but Democrats were much more likely to say the 80-year-old president could effectively run the country for another four years.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents, 63.5 percent, responded that Biden was too old to effectively serve a second term. Another 28.1 percent expressed confidence that they could.
However, when only Democrats were asked, only 29.3 percent doubted that Biden could lead from 2025.
But when Republicans were asked, 92.3 percent said Biden would not be able to effectively run the country during a second term.
Of independents, 64 percent said Biden was too old — while another 24.5 percent said he could still do the job.