Castro says Biden poll ‘worrisome’
Former San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro says a recent poll suggests President Joe Biden’s re-election prospects are shaky and Democrats should be concerned about a Biden-trump rematch.
Castro cited a recent Washington POST-ABC News poll showing that among registered voters who were asked which candidate they would favor in a head-to-head contest in 2024, 48 percent expressed support for former President Donald Trump, compared with 45 percent for Biden. The difference was within the poll’s margin of error.
“It’s the general consensus that Dems are content with Biden in a Trump rematch,” Castro said on Twitter. “But this poll undermines Biden’s central argument for re-nomination.
“Two years is forever and it’s just one poll, but if he’s faring this poorly after a string of wins, that should be worrisome,” Castro wrote.
Castro, 48, served as U.S. secretary of housing and urban development in the Obama administration, and he ran unsuccessfully for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. He would have been the nation’s first Latino presidential nominee from a major party.
In a memorable moment from that campaign, Castro and Biden had a tense exchange during a Democratic candidate debate in Houston in September 2019. As the two sparred over Biden’s proposed health care plan, Castro asserted that the former vice president had contradicted himself.
“Are you forgetting already what you said just two minutes ago?” he asked Biden, then 76.
Many saw the remark as a swipe at Biden’s age, but Castro said that was not his intention and that he was focusing on the substance of Biden’s proposal.
Castro dropped out of the race in January 2020 and threw his support to Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
Trump announced in November that he would run for the presidency in 2024, his third campaign for the office. Biden has not announced his intentions but is widely expected to seek a second term
The Washington Post, reporting on the results of its poll, said the survey showed that “neither Biden nor Trump generates broad excitement within their own party, and most Americans overall say they would feel dissatisfied or angry if either wins the general election.”
Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, the poll found that 58 percent would prefer someone other than Biden as the party’s nominee in 2024, the Post reported. Only 31 percent of respondents in that group expressed support for a Biden candidacy.
The pollsters also asked Republicans and Republicanleaning independents their feelings about Trump as the party’s 2024 presidential nominee. Forty-nine percent said they’d prefer someone, the Post reported. Forty-four percent supported the former president.
In a head-to-head Bidentrump rematch, 48 percent of registered voters surveyed said they would favor Trump, compared with 45 percent for Biden.