Michelle Obama Crushes Donald Trump in Hypothetical Matchup

Former first lady Michelle Obama would beat former President Donald Trump in a hypothetical 2024 matchup, according to a new poll.

The wife of former President Barack Obama is among the names being touted as a possible replacement for President Joe Biden, who is facing pressure to step down as the Democratic Party's nominee for president following a disastrous debate performance last week.

Biden's poor performance sparked panic among Democrats and led many to question whether the 81-year-old is the strongest candidate to take on Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, in November.

Biden has vowed to remain in the race, with Seth Schuster, a Biden campaign spokesperson, telling Newsweek after the debate that Biden was "not dropping out." Obama has repeatedly said she does not intend to run for president.

But a Reuters/Ispos poll found she was the only top Democrat put before respondents who would trounce Trump in a hypothetical matchup.

The poll found 50 percent of registered voters would vote for Obama if the election were held today, while Trump would get 39 percent of the vote.

Obama's office has been contacted for comment via her website and the Trump campaign has been contacted via email.

The poll surveyed 1,070 U.S. adults nationwide, including 892 registered voters, between July 1 and 2, and has a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points.

"Polls showing that Michelle Obama could beat Donald Trump simply reflect nostalgia for Barack," Thomas Gift, an associate professor of political science and director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London, told Newsweek.

"It's easy to defeat the competition when you have no policy platform, no agenda, and haven't been subjected to the kind of scrutiny that presidential candidates are in 2024. The former first lady has displayed zero interest in running, which means that suggestions that she could sky dive into the convention and save the Democratic Party from itself look like a fantasy."

The poll found Obama outperformed Biden as well as other top Democrats whose names have been floated as possible replacements for the president at the top of the party's ticket.

Both Biden and Trump had the support of 40 percent of registered voters, according to the poll.

Vice President Kamala Harris trailed Trump by one point, 42 percent to 43 percent, according to the poll. California Governor Gavin Newsom performed worse, trailing Trump 39 percent to 42 percent.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer trailed Trump, 36 percent to 41 percent, while Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker was also behind Trump with the support of 34 percent, compared to Trump's 40 percent.

The poll also found that about a third of Democrats (32 percent) think Biden should drop out of the race after the debate. Overall, more than half (56 percent) of Americans agree that Biden should drop out, while 46 percent said Trump should drop out.

Obama shut down speculation about her launching a 2024 bid for the White House earlier this year.

"As former first lady Michelle Obama has expressed several times over the years, she will not be running for president," Crystal Carson, the director of communications for Obama's office, told NBC News. "Mrs. Obama supports President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' reelection campaign."

Trump criticized the former first lady's polling during a campaign event on Friday, saying he didn't believe Biden would drop out of the race "because he does better in polls than any of the Democrats they're talking about."

He added: "They polled everybody. They polled Michelle Obama, she polls very badly. No, she polls terribly."

Update 7/3/24, 5:30 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to add a new image and comment from Thomas Gift.