Biden Plummets in Leaked Democratic Polling Memo, Puck Says

President Joe Biden’s favorability numbers plummeted after his debate performance last week in “the largest single-week drop” in nearly three years, according to a leaked memo from the pollster for a leading Democratic political action committee. 

“Underpinning the decline is an increase in already-high concerns about the President’s age, and a growing split among Democrats about what should happen with his candidacy,” says the memo from Open Labs, the research arm of Future Forward, a super-PAC. 

The Biden campaign has tapped the organization as its vehicle to accept unlimited donations. The leaked memo was first reported by Puck, a news site.

Biden’s debate performance against Republican Donald Trump last week cemented concerns about the oldest US president in history at 81 seeking a second term. Biden’s campaign has pushed back on calls from Democrats for him to step aside and allow another candidate to take on Trump. 

A number of alternate Democrats — including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Vice President Kamala Harris — now perform better against Trump than Biden does, the memo says, when their numbers are adjusted to account for their lower name recognition.

Future Forward did not immediately respond to inquiries about the leaked memo, which contained no information on the pollster’s methodology, sample sizes or margins of error. The group raised $101 million in support of Biden, and its top donor is Michael Bloomberg, the majority owner of Bloomberg LP.

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