Joe Biden is the best-placed Democrat to defeat Donald Trump, a top pollster has claimed.
Allan Lichtman, known for developing a staggeringly accurate White House prediction system, weighed in on the 46th President’s campaign amid calls for him to step aside.
Biden, 81, who yesterday contracted coronavirus, was defiantly swatting away concerns about his age and competency.
However, the 46th President is now reportedly willing to listen to negative pleas.
Pollster who predicted every election bar one makes shock claim about Joe BidenREUTERSAsked if there was any reason he would leave the race, Biden said: “If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if doctors came to me and said, you got this problem and that problem.”
Despite pressure on Biden to step aside, Lichtman appeared to caution the Democratic Party against removing Biden during his re-election bid.
“If Democrats hope to retain the White House in November, they need to support Joe Biden,” Lichtman said.
Democrats might want to listen closely to the American historian after he accurately predicted all but one White House race since 1984.
And the expert still contests his false call, claiming Al Gore’s 2000 defeat came as a result of improper ballot counting in uber-marginal Florida.
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Lichtman predicts who will emerge victorious by tallying so-called false keys.
The system includes four factors based on politics, seven on performance, and two on candidate personality.
Failing on six or more of the keys would ensure defeat for the party seeking a return to the White House.
Debate performances, which have become increasingly significant following Biden’s blunderous outing against Donald Trump last month, are not included.
Lichtman ignored Ronald Reagan’s poor performances against Walter Mondale in 1984 when the 40th President was also facing questions about his age.
Joe Biden speaking at the Nato summit in WashingtonREUTERSJoking about concern expressed about his age, Reagan said: “I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”
Lichtman has not yet made his final 2024 prediction, with Americans still having 110 days before polls open.
However, the American historian has made a number of interventions during the campaign.
Speaking after the first debate in Atlanta, Lichtman said: “At the first sign of adversity the spineless Democrats want to throw under the bus, their own incumbent President. My goodness.”
The Nostradamus of US politics also suggested Biden had an advantage over his White House predecessor before Trump’s hush money conviction.
Donald TrumpREUTERS“A lot would have to go wrong for Biden to lose,” he said in late April.
However, opinion polls suggest the tide is turning towards Trump ahead of November 5.
Despite facing a number of legal challenges, Trump opened up a two-point lead over Biden in FiveThirtyEight’s poll-of-polls yesterday.
Biden’s lead stood at nine per cent during the same stage of the 2020 cycle.
Ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly told Biden that polls showed he cannot defeat Trump.
Joe BidenREUTERSFollowing an initial wave of calls to step down, Biden said: “I want you to know that despite all the speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump.”
Biden added: “I can respond to all this by saying clearly and unequivocally: I wouldn’t be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024.”
However, Vice President Kamala Harris and California Governor Gavin Newsom were among the Democrats tipped to take on the nomination.
Trump, who survived an attempted assassination in Pennsylvania on Saturday, picked JD Vance as his running-mate.
The ex-President yesterday suggested America’s support for Taiwan was not unconditional and previously met with former Prime Minister Boris Johnson to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.