Joe Biden’s Chances of Winning Democratic Nomination Fall 30% After Debate – Newsweek

President Biden's odds of being the Democratic Party's 2024 presidential election candidate slumped by nearly 30 percent in the immediate aftermath of his debate with Donald Trump on Thursday night, according to one betting website.

The price of a share for Biden being the candidate on Predict It fell from 85 cents immediately before the debate to 61 cents when it had concluded, representing a fall of 28.2 percent, though it did later recover somewhat to 72 cents.

During the debate, which took place in Atlanta and was hosted by CNN, Biden appeared to lose his chain of thoughts several times sparking renewed concern over the 81-year-old's health and mental acumen. According to CNN chief national correspondent John King, his performance has sparked "panic" within the Democratic Party, and his odds of winning the 2024 presidential election slumped sharply with a number of leading bookmakers.

The Predict It website is run as a research project by Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. It allows people to bet on the outcome of certain events by buying shares, valued at between 1 and 99 cents depending on the probability of them taking place. If an event does then occur the bet maker receives $1 for each share, meaning the higher the initial price, the more likely it is expected to take place by the website.

Predict It offers bets on "Who will win the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination?" Shares for Joe Biden in answer to this question were priced at 85 each before Thursday's debate but then fell to 61 cents after it completed showing the website's decreased confidence that he will be the nominee.

Newsweek contacted Joe Biden's 2024 presidential election campaign for comment by email.

U.K.-based betting company Betfair reduced the odds of Biden winning in November from 13/8 (38.1 percent) to 7/2 (22.2 percent) in the immediate aftermath of Thursday's debate.

During the same period, the odds of Trump achieving victory in November increased from 8/13 (61.9 percent) to 4/7 (63.6 percent) after the debate. The discrepancy between these two figures suggests an increase in bet makers who don't think Biden will be the Democratic presidential nominee come November.

Betfair spokesperson Sam Rosbottom told Newsweek: "Biden's disastrous head-to-head with Trump has seen punters rapidly lose faith that the incumbent president has another five years in him.

"The two men were neck-and-neck back in April; now, despite Trump's varying legal and financial headaches, he has the punters' firm backing to be the next U.S. president."

At one point during Thursday's debate, Biden appeared to lose his point while defending his record on immigration. He said: "I've changed it in a way that now, you're in a situation where there are 40 percent fewer people coming across the border illegally, it's better than when [Trump] left office. And I'm going to continue to move it until we get the total ban on...the total initiative relative to what we're going to do with more Border Patrol and more asylum officers."

In response, Trump replied: "I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either."

A second presidential debate between Biden and Trump is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET on September 10 and is to be hosted by ABC News.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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Joe Biden's Chances of Winning Democratic Nomination Fall 30% After Debate - Newsweek