Michelle Obama best positioned to beat Trump in hypothetical contest: Poll

A new poll has suggested that former US first lady Michelle Obama may beat former president Donald Trump in a hypothetical presidential contest. The Reuters/Ipsos poll revealed that while 50 per cent of the voters backed Obama's candidacy, support for Trump hovered around just below 40 per cent. 11 per cent of the voters said they wouldn't vote, vote for another candidate or didn't know.

The poll also revealed that Trump would beat all other hypothetical Democrats on the list, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker.

Watch: US: Biden faces growing doubts from Democrats post-debate

The poll was conducted between July 1 and July 2 and took into consideration the opinion of just 892 people, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Concerns over Biden's age

The poll comes as concerns have been raised over President Joe Biden's age, especially after his shaky performance against Trump in the presidential debate.

The poll revealed that 56 per cent of people supported Biden's exit from the presidential race.

Also read: Biden under pressure to drop presidential re-run as Trump widens his lead

Biden's campaign faced a significant setback as a Democrat congressman from Texas became the party’s first sitting representative to publicly call for him to quit the presidential race.

Lloyd Doggett called on Biden to take the “painful and difficult decision to withdraw” on Tuesday (Jul 2).

Barack Obama's assessment

As per reports, earlier Barack Obama told allies that the chances of the 81-year-old president winning against Trump looked bleak.

Support for Michelle has increased, despite the former FLOTUS publicly endorsing Biden and ruling out running.

(With inputs from agencies)