Pollster Nate Silver has suggested it may be time for Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race.

Politics

by Victor Nava

Pollster Nate Silver warned Monday that President Biden's approval ratings are so low that it may be time to reconsider seeking reelection in November.

“Biden's approval rating is at an all-time low (37.4%),” said Alan Biden, founder and data analyst at FiveThirtyEight. I wrote to XHe pointed to his organization's most recent average of the president's job approval ratings.

“Abstaining is a big risk,” Silver argues, “but below a certain threshold, continuing becomes a bigger risk.”

“Are we there yet? I don't know,” the pollster acknowledged, “but it's fair to ask.”

Silver has long been concerned about whether the 81-year-old incumbent president could defeat former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

Silver sparked controversy in February when he argued that Democrats might be better suited to take on the 77-year-old former president, and last month suggested Biden should consider stepping down.

“What's clearer is [in my opinion] “It would have been better for the Democratic Party if Biden had decided a year ago not to seek a second term. That would have allowed us to have something like a primary election and give voters a say among many popular Democrats across the country,” he said Monday.

Silver noted that Biden is in a “much worse position” in the polls than he was before Election Day in 2020, when he was leading in battleground states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Florida and North Carolina.

Several recent polls have shown Trump leading Biden in all of those states.

Silver suggested Biden's lack of support could be due to his age, which he called a “very understandable concern” for voters.

“Biden's age is an issue that voters have mentioned overwhelmingly and consistently in polls,” he said. “That concern continues at various stages of media coverage.”

“The side-by-side comparison of Biden now and Biden in 2012 was also very interesting,” Silver continued. “There's a clear change.”

“I think it's bordering on gaslighting to suggest that it's just a media or atmosphere issue.”

Silver said Trump should also consider withdrawing.

“Biden would lose by 7 points,” the pollster said of a scenario in which Biden, the presumptive Republican nominee, is not his party's presidential nominee.

The president has given no indication that he plans to step down before facing Trump.