New polls show Harris outperforming Biden in Virginia and Pennsylvania

Two new polls from The New York Times andSiena College show that President Joe Biden underperforms Vice President Kamala Harris against former president Donald Trump in Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The surveys contradict Biden’s own claims. During his first “big boy” press conference in months last week during the conclusion of the NATO summit, Biden was asked whether he would step down if data showed Harris polled better against Trump than he did. Biden responded: “No one’s saying that.”

But the polls show that Harris outperforms Biden among young voters and non-white voters specifically.

The new surveys come after weeks of Democratic anxiety about the 81-year-old president’s ability to effectively run against Trump, following his disastrous debate performance. Numerous Democrats, including those who are currently fighting difficult re-election campaigns, have called on Biden to step aside to allow for Harris to take over at the top of the ticket.

The latest polls finished before the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday that left him with minor injuries. Biden — and other Democrats — have openly denounced the shooting.

The polling shows Biden losing in Pennsylvania, where he was born and lived before his family relocated to Delaware, by three points while Harris holds a one-point deficit in the Keystone State against Trump. Trump shocked many when he became the first Republican presidential nominee since George H W Bush in 1988 to win Pennsylvania by 44,292 votes. Biden won back the state for Democrats in 2020 by 80,555 votes.

Democrats have handily won Virginia ever since Barack Obama became the first Democrat since Lyndon Johnson to carry the state in 2008. Biden won the state by double