Donald Trump Suffers Polling Blow Against Kamala Harris

A new poll shows Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of former President Donald Trump for the first time as rumors continue to circulate about whether the Democratic Party will replace President Joe Biden as its candidate.

Speculation about a switch has been rife since Biden's performance in his debate with Trump on June 27, and Harris has consistently been seen as a serious option. She has generally trailed Trump in polls, but now one shows her ahead with 42 percent support to Trump's 41 percent.

Public opinion research firm Bendixen & Amandi carried out 1,000 interviews with registered voters between July 2 and July 6 to come up with its results, which have a +/- 3.1 percentage point margin of error, according to Politico.

A more surprising result saw former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton ahead of Trump 43-41, with a Clinton-Harris ticket leading 43-40.

Clinton has not been seen as a serious option, with speculation focusing on Harris, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

The Bendixen & Amandi poll puts Newsom behind Trump 40-37 and Whitmer a little further behind at 40-36.

Newsweek has contacted the Biden campaign and the Democratic Party via their press email accounts for comment.

In a leaked video after the Atlanta debate, Trump made it clear that he believes he would beat Harris.

"I got [Biden] out the race. And that means we have Kamala. I think she's going to be better. She's so bad, she's so pathetic," he said.

Biden has recently gone to great lengths to quell talk about him being replaced. On Monday, he wrote a letter to congressional Democrats, saying that despite all the speculation in the press and elsewhere, he is firmly committed to staying in the race.

"I wouldn't be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump," he said.

Biden is also seemingly unstirred by the polls, as he told ABC News's George Stephanopoulos that he has been underestimated before.

"Remember in 2020, 'the red wave' was coming," he said. "Before the vote, I said that's not going to happen, we're gonna win."

Analysis by CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten showed that Biden is in the worst polling position, on average, than any Democratic candidate in 24 years.

The last time a Republican was ahead in early July general election polls was in 2000, when George Bush led Democratic Vice President Al Gore, Enten's research showed.

Early July polls show Democratic candidates ahead in the polls in every election cycle after that. John Kerry was ahead in 2004, Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020.