Pete Buttigieg's Chances of Beating Donald Trump: Poll

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg in Washington D.C., 2024. Buttigieg is among potential Democrat presidential candidates if Joe Biden were to stand aside.

Speculation has arisen over whether Pete Buttigieg would step in as the Democratic nominee if President Joe Biden were to withdraw from the race. But polling indicates that the transportation secretary would lose to Donald Trump in a hypothetical matchup.

Following Biden's widely criticized performance at the CNN-hosted debate in Atlanta last Thursday, progressive think tank Data for Progress conducted a poll on how other Democratic candidates might fare against Trump.

During the debate, Biden, who has faced concerns about his age and capabilities as he seeks a second term, gave a number of incoherent and confusing responses to the questions, sometimes not completing his sentences. Biden's voice also sounded weak and hoarse, which his campaign team said was due to a cold.

The performance prompted calls from some Democrats for Biden to step down and allow another candidate to seek the nomination at August's Democratic Convention. Buttigieg is among the handful of Democrats who have been suggested as potential replacements. Others are Vice President Kamala Harris, California Governor Gavin Newsom, former first lady Michelle Obama and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. But Biden would have to withdraw from the race and release his delegates for another Democrat to be nominated.

In the 2020 Democratic primary race, Buttigieg became the first openly gay candidate to run for president. Before entering national politics, he was the mayor of South Bend, Indiana; served in Afghanistan as a member of the U.S. Navy Reserve; and studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar.

Despite his credentials, the Data for Progress poll shows Buttigieg trailing Trump if he were to replace Biden on the Democratic ticket. The survey asked respondents: "If the November 2024 election for U.S. president was being held tomorrow, and these were the candidates, who would you vote for?"

Of the 1,011 likely voters who responded to the poll, 44 percent said they would vote for Buttigieg, while 47 percent said they would vote for Trump. Nine percent said they were not sure.

The same respondents were also polled on how favorably they viewed both candidates. Respondents had a +2 net-favorable view of Buttigieg and a -11 net-unfavorable view of Trump, a result driven by strong Democratic disapproval of Trump.

Newsweek reached out to Buttigieg's office via email for comment.

Buttigieg has not publicly commented on the Democratic discord over Biden following the debate, except to support the president's candidacy on Monday. He retweeted one of the president's posts on X (formerly Twitter), in which Biden said, "Folks, I know I'm not a young man, but I know how to do this job."

Following a previously scheduled weekend gathering at Camp David, the president's inner circle of family members and close advisers dismissed any suggestion that he should withdraw from the race.

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