Polymarket bettors push odds of President Biden dropping out of the race to 80%

The odds of U.S. President Joe Biden dropping out of the presidential race rose to 80% on decentralized prediction market platform Polymarket as reports show Biden could decide to drop out of the presidential race as soon as this weekend.

Just two days ago, those odds were closer to 33% on Polymarket but has since more than doubled. Axios reported on Thursday morning that the pressure is rising among Democrats and close friends to urge Biden to drop out in the coming days, citing several top Democrats.

Biden, who is now 81 and recently tested positive for Covid, has faced mounting pressure after a jarring debate performance last month that jolted discussions around possibly replacing Biden. Over the past week, top Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have told him to drop out, according to ABC News. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Biden that polling shows that he cannot defeat GOP presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump and said Biden could "destroy Democrats' chances of winning the House, according to CNN.

Former President Barack Obama told allies Biden "needs to seriously consider his viability to win reelection," according to reporting from The Washington Post on Thursday.

All of this is happening as the Democratic National Convention inches closer. Democrats will hold their convention to select a presidential nominee on Aug. 19 in Chicago.

News outlets have reported a handful of potential Democratic challengers including Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Illinois Gov. J.B. Prizker, or Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

People on Polymarket are betting that Harris will be the Democratic nominee and set those odds at 59% as of Thursday afternoon, and memecoins inspired by potential Biden successors have been rallying over the past 24 hours.