Sen. Ted Cruz recently had advice for Joseph R. Biden, regarding the circumstances under which the Democratic presidential nominee should debate President Trump.
“Biden’s two conditions: (1) the debate must occur in his basement, and (2) it cannot be televised or broadcast to anyone in America,” the Texas Republican quipped in a tweet.
Do likely voters think that Mr. Biden could manage such a high profile showdown?
A slim majority — 54% — believe he is actually “capable” of a debate with the president according to a Rasmussen Reports survey released Tuesday.
Over a third — 36% — said Mr. Biden could not manage the event. while another 11% aren’t sure.
And the inevitable partisan breakdown: 77% of Democrats believe Mr. Biden could pull it off, compared to 32% of Republicans and 49% of independent voters.
There’s a lot riding on the debate, meanwhile. The survey also found that 68% of likely voters say it’s important that Mr. Biden participate in the traditional bout while 56% say it would hurt the Biden campaign if the candidate opted out of it.
The analysis also mentioned findings from a separate Rasmussen Reports poll released June 29 which gauged voter impressions of Mr. Biden’s mental abilities.
“38% of all voters, including 20% of Democrats, believe Biden is suffering from some form of dementia. Sixty-one percent think it is important for him to address the dementia issue publicly,” the analysis said.
The survey of 1,000 likely U.S. voters was conducted July 9-12.
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