Panicking, Democrats became confused and speculated about whether Joe Biden should be replaced as their party’s candidate for US president after he staged a disastrous debate and turned rumors about his age and fitness into cheering.
Biden’s shaky, raspy performance against Donald Trump during the first presidential debate in Atlanta was widely described as a disaster that, rather than allaying fears about his mental acuity, amplified them on the biggest political stage.
Even before the tortuous ninety minutes were over, senior Democratic figures and donors were desperately calling or texting, exploring the possibilities of fielding a late alternative to Biden at the Democratic National Convention in August, though elected officials remained publicly loyal to the president.
“Every Democrat I know is texting me that this is bad,” Ravi Gupta, a former Barack Obama campaign aide, wrote on X. “Just say it publicly and start the hard work of creating space in the convention for a selection process. I’d rather vote for a dead body than Trump, but this is a suicide mission.”
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Biden spent nearly a week at the presidential retreat at Camp David preparing for the debate. He even sold cans of water labeled “Dark Brandon’s Secret Sauce” on his campaign website, mocking suggestions from Trump and his advisers that he use drugs to boost his performance.
The early date and rules of the debate—no studio audience and muted microphones to prevent interruptions—were requested by the Biden campaign, which was eager to draw voters’ attention to the debate and the threat Trump posed. They wanted the president to show strength and energy.
But the plan backfired spectacularly in Biden’s appearance, which was punctuated by repeated stumbling over words, awkward pauses and a quiet speaking style that was often difficult to understand. The president lost his train of thought at times, especially early on, and Trump quickly capitalized: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
The former president exuded confidence even when he was patently wrong about the facts, appearing younger and sharper than Biden. David Plouffe, a former Obama campaign manager, told MSNBC: “They’re three years apart. They seemed about 30 years apart tonight.” He described Biden’s performance as a “Defcon 1 moment.”
Biden sprang into action a little later in the debate, launching some deeply personal attacks at his opponent, but it was too late to change his initial impression. His campaign staff blamed his hoarse voice on a cold, but his split-screen responses to Trump—mouth open, eyes downcast—underscored his status as the oldest president in history.
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Biden’s surrogates slowly eased into the post-debate spin room in Atlanta, and when they finally emerged, they largely dodged questions from the press. Instead, they railed against Trump’s long list of debate falsehoods, which went unchecked by CNN’s fact-checkers.
At a Waffle House restaurant in Atlanta, Biden was asked if he was worried about his performance. He replied: “No. It’s hard to debate a liar.”
But Democratic strategists and rank-and-file voters wondered publicly and privately whether the party might trade him in for a younger standard-bearer against Trump in the November election.
Claire McCaskill, a former Democratic senator, told MSNBC that her phone “blew up” and that senators, operatives and donors were deeply disturbed. “Joe Biden had one thing to do tonight, and he didn’t do it,” she said. “He had one thing to accomplish, and that was to reassure America that at his age he was up to the task, and he failed to do that tonight.”
McCaskill added, “I’m not the only one whose heart is breaking right now. There are a lot of people who watched this tonight and felt terrible for Joe Biden. I don’t know if there are things that can be done to fix this.”
Two influential New York Times columnists, Tom Friedman and Nick Kristof, expressed their dismay at the display and called on the president to withdraw from the race.
Under current Democratic Party rules, it would be difficult if not impossible to replace Biden as the party’s nominee without his cooperation or without party officials being willing to rewrite the rules at the convention in Chicago.
The president won an overwhelming majority of Democratic delegates in the statewide primary process. The party’s rules state: “Delegates elected to the national convention who have committed themselves to a presidential candidate must in good conscience reflect the feelings of those who elected them.”
But if polls show Biden could hurt congressional candidates in a downhill race, donor money could dry up and pressure could mount for him to step aside gracefully. That could involve a delegation of party elders meeting with the president and pleading with him to pass the torch.
Such a move would set off a frenzied, potentially divisive battle for the nomination with possible contenders including Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and even former first lady Michelle Obama.
Steve Schmidt, a political strategist who worked on the presidential campaigns of Republicans George W. Bush and John McCain, wrote on Substack: “Joe Biden lost the presidency last night, but just because it happened in June doesn’t mean Trump will win… It’s time for Joe Biden to start the preparations he needs to put the country first. They’re going to require him to say, ‘I will not accept my party’s nomination for a second term.'”
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Others, however, believed there is still time to recover from the earliest-ever presidential debate. Many voters have not yet tuned in for the elections, which are still more than four months away. The Biden campaign announced it had raised $14 million Thursday evening and Friday morning — money that could be spent on advertising and swing-state infrastructure.
Trump remains a deeply polarizing figure with historic vulnerabilities, including his conviction last month in New York in a hush-money case involving pornographic film performer Stormy Daniels, his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his chaotic tenure. Biden described him as a “whiner” and “kid” who cheated on his wife with “a porn star” and had the “morals of an alley cat.”
There are examples of people bouncing back from poor debate performances, such as Obama’s rebound from a poor performance against Mitt Romney in 2012. John Fetterman, the Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, defeated a Republican rival in 2022 after struggling in a debate for several months after he had a stroke.
Fetterman tweeted on Friday: “I refuse to join the Democratic vultures on Biden’s shoulder after the debate. No one knows better than I that a rough debate is not the sum of the person and their record.”
Newsom, Biden’s most prominent surrogate in the Atlanta spin room, urged Democrats not to collapse. He said: “I don’t think it helps. And I think it’s unnecessary. We have to go in, we have to hold our heads high. We must have this president’s support. You don’t return because of one performance. Which party does that?”
