A majority of voters believes that President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance last week was not caused by a cold or too much preparation but by dementia.
That is the damning finding of an exclusive poll for DailyMail.com.
Only 10 percent of respondents said they believed a cold was to blame, rejecting the official White House explanation for why the president struggled to answer questions or hold his train of thought during a 90-minute showdown with Donald Trump.
At the same time, it reveals that Trump, 78, has extended his lead over 81-year-old Biden to six points, deepening the crisis facing the president’s reelection campaign.
The White House has already had to fend off questions about whether the president is ‘disabled’ in a sign of how Biden’s health moved to the center of the contest this week.
Now with Biden under intense pressure to step aside, our poll reveals how far those health fears have spread.
Some 52 percent of respondents said dementia was the cause, including 17 percent of Democrats and more than half of independents.
‘The debate confirmed what voters already feared about Biden—and then some,’ said James Johnson, co-founder of J.L. Partners who conducted the poll.
‘The finding that 52% of voters think his poor performance was down to dementia is hugely significant: No one is buying Biden’s personal excuses or that of his staff. This is something they think is structural and a problem that is not going to go away.
‘Majority views involving political figures are not normal in American politics due to high levels of polarization. Biden’s health has bucked that: it is now a majority and uniting view that Biden is mentally unwell.’
The poll asked 1000 likely voters from July 1 to 3 for their views. The results carry a 3.1 point margin of error.
They show Trump with his biggest overall lead since DailyMail.com began tracking voter intentions. He has extended his lead by two points, since our last poll in March, to six points, as Biden’s support dips and Trump’s holds steady.
And the results reveal how a stumbling debate performance has transported the question of dementia from the preserve of rightwing television anchors to the mainstream.
Biden’s halting performance, tailing off mid-sentence at times, sparked calls for him to step aside as the Democratic candidate.
Adding to the pressure, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it was now legitimate to ask whether his performance was an ‘episode’ or a condition.
Biden allies and the White House continue to insist that he should not be defined by one ‘bad night’ in June.
That triggered extraordinary scenes in the White House briefing room on Tuesday when Karine Jean-Pierre was quizzed about the debate.
‘I think the American people need to get a yes or no answer on this,’ asked a reporter. ‘Does President Biden, at 81 years old, have Alzheimer’s, any form of dementia or degenerative illness that caused these sorts of lapses?’
Jean-Pierre answered: ‘It’s a no. And I hope you’re asking the other guy the same exact question.’
She also announced a hectic period of activity, including an interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News and a press conference next week, as the president shows he is getting on with the job.
Biden himself addressed his performance at a campaign event hours later, when he apologized to donors.
‘I decided to travel around the world a couple of times … shortly before the debate …’ he said. ‘I didn’t listen to my staff … and then I almost fell asleep on stage.’
His campaign has held a series of damage control calls with donors, staff members and party officials, as a trickle of voices urging him to stand aside threatens to become a torrent.
The concern is a gift to the Trump campaign.
The former president has maintained a low-profile, keeping his vice presidential announcement firmly on ice, as the focus stayed on the Biden camp.
‘This is popcorn moment for us,’ said a Trump world insider. ‘Why would we try to generate headlines when the other side is falling apart like this?’