Kamala Harris' Approval Rating Falls as Talk of Replacing Biden Grows

Vice President Kamala Harris' approval numbers have fallen since President Joe Biden's performance at the first presidential debate sparked calls for him to quit the race.

Biden has defied calls to step aside after the June 27 debate raised concerns about the 81-year-old's age and ability to defeat former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, in November.

If Biden ultimately does drop out of the race, Harris is widely seen as the top choice to replace him at the top of the Democratic ticket.

Representative Jim Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat who helped Biden secure the Democratic nomination and win in 2020, has said he would support Harris if Biden withdrew.

Harris has the highest polling among the most serious contenders to replace Biden, but her approval numbers have dropped since Biden's debate against Trump—a worrying sign for Democrats who see her as Biden's logical successor if he were to drop out.

According to FiveThirtyEight's average, Harris' approval rating stood at 37.1 percent on July 5, and her disapproval rating was 51.2 percent.

On June 27, the day of the debate, Harris' approval rating was 39.4 percent, while her disapproval rating was 49.4 percent.

Newsweek reached out to the Biden-Harris campaign via email for comment.

Recent polls have found Democratic voters are split on whether Biden should remain the Democratic Party's nominee for president or step aside and allow someone else to run against Trump in November.

But a YouGov poll conducted between July 3 and 6 found that when asked who they would prefer as the nominee between Biden and Harris, more Democratic voters and independents who lean Democratic prefer Biden.

That is "consistent with the idea that Kamala Harris simply isn't going to win any popularity contests, among Democrats or voters at large," Thomas Gift, an associate professor of Political Science and director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London, previously told Newsweek.

"It's important to recall she was one of the first Democratic candidates to flame out of the primaries when she ran for president in 2019."

Gift said Harris' lack of appeal to voters may be a reason why Biden ultimately remains in the race. "If she's his natural successor, Biden may be convinced that her odds of beating Trump are slim," he said.

Recent polls have indicated that Harris could do better against Trump than Biden.

A poll conducted by the firm Bendixen & Amandi between July 2 and 6 has Harris leading Trump by two percentage points, 42 percent to 40 percent, within the margin of error, Politico reported. The same poll found Biden was trailing Trump, 42 percent to 43 percent.

A recent CNN poll showed that Harris was trailing Trump, 47 percent to 45 percent, with the survey's margin of error. That poll found Trump was leading Biden by six percentage points, 49 percent to 43 percent.

But Biden has stressed he will not step aside. In an open letter on Monday, he told congressional Democrats that they must unite and focus their energy on beating Trump.

"The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it's time for it to end," Biden wrote in the letter.

"We have one job. And that is to beat Donald Trump. We have 42 days to the Democratic Convention and 119 days to the general election. Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us. It's time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump."