President Joe Biden has the lowest support from within his own party for a reelection bid of any president in recent history, according to an average of polls published before the president is expected to announce his 2024 campaign this week.
Just 38 percent of Democrats said the party should nominate Biden for reelection, compared with 57 percent who want to find someone else, according to an average of polls conducted throughout his term published by the Washington Post on Monday. Both Donald Trump and Barack Obama saw more than 70 percent of members of their own party supporting their nomination for a second term.
Before Biden's presidency, the president with the least support for his reelection of the last quarter-century was Bill Clinton, who had 50 percent of Democrats supporting his renomination.
Biden will reportedly announce his reelection bid as soon as Tuesday. But the president faces challenges in inspiring his base, who reportedly have concerns about his age. The 80-year-old Biden is already the oldest president in history and would be 86 at the end of a second term. Democratic voters who spoke to the Post said the president's frequent verbal slip-ups and physical stumbles have given them uncertainty about his ability to handle four more years.
The president also faces questions about scandals surrounding his family and administration. His son Hunter Biden faces a federal investigation into his taxes. An IRS whistleblower said this month that the Justice Department is giving the president's son "preferential treatment" in the investigation.
In the West Wing, domestic policy adviser Susan Rice is on the way out after an explosive New York Times report revealed Rice and other Biden administration officials ignored or missed reports on the number of unaccompanied children coming across the border and ending up in jobs that violate child labor laws. The report found Rice and her team received messages and statistics on the crisis but failed to respond.
Almost all Democratic voters the Post interviewed for the Monday piece told the outlet they would still support Biden in a general election.