CNN data reporter Harry Enten said Monday that if he were a Democratic donor, he would “take a chance” on Vice President Kamala Harris as an alternative to President Joe Biden.
Biden: Resisted Calls have been made for Harris to resign following her poor performance in the June 27 debate with former President Donald Trump on CNN, in which the president froze and made multiple gaffes. Enten told “CNN Newsroom” host Pamela Brown that polls show Harris is more popular with independents. (RELATED: 'Here's the problem': MSNBC data expert explains Democrats' obstacles to replacing Biden)
“If you look at the polling averages, she's actually doing slightly better against Donald Trump than she is against Joe Biden,” Enten said. “Joe Biden is three points behind Donald Trump in the national average, while Kamala Harris is only one point behind Donald Trump. And the reason for that is that although we have left-wing Democrats and right-wing Republicans in this country, elections tend to be won by center-right voters, independents.”
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“And look at the difference: With independents, if you compare Joe Biden to Donald Trump and Kamala Harris to Donald Trump, Donald Trump has a four-point lead with independents when running against Biden,” Enten continued. “But look at the comparison with Kamala Harris. In fact, Kamala Harris has a five-point lead. This is the main reason why Harris is doing better overall against Donald Trump than Joe Biden. Simply put, she's performing well with median voters.”
Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas was the first Democrat to call on Biden to step down after the debate. Representatives Raul Grijalva of Arizona, Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, Mike Quigley of Illinois and Angie Craig of Minnesota have also issued statements calling on Biden to resign, and four more Democrats, including Representative Jerry Nadler of New York, also called for Biden to step down in a call with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Sunday.
“I would also point out that there are far fewer voters who have an opinion of Harris at this point than there are voters who have an opinion of Biden, and all of those voters tend to have a negative opinion of Joe Biden,” Enten said. “In fact, simply put, I believe Harris cannot possibly do worse than Biden given how unpopular Donald Trump is. And I believe that's why independents are flocking to Harris over Biden against Donald Trump, because the fact is, Biden is very unpopular among them.”
Biden is currently trailing Trump by 3.3 percentage points in head-to-head national races. according to RealClearPolling poll average. Trump leads grow up Adding independent candidates Cornel West and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Green Party candidate Jill Stein brings the total to 4.9%. (Related story: 'They don't want him to resign': CNN data expert says Democrats want Biden to stay)
“If I were a Democratic donor, a Democratic activist, I might bet against him, because right now, Joe Biden is doing much worse against Donald Trump than he has done in the past, and that's especially true among independents,” Enten concluded.
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