Democrats are so panicked about President Joe BidenHis faltering debate performance has some actively discussing what was once unspeakable: replacing him on the ticket.
Three strategists close to three potential Democratic presidential candidates said they were bombarded with text messages during the debate. One adviser said they received pleas for their candidate to step forward as an alternative to Biden.
Another advisor said they brought “no fewer than half a dozen major donors who texted ‘disaster’ and [the] party has to do something,” but acknowledged that “not much is possible unless” Biden steps aside.
They were among more than a dozen Democrats who spoke to POLITICO, most of whom were granted anonymity to speak freely.
A major Democratic donor and Biden supporter said it was time for the president to end his campaign. This person described Biden’s night as “the worst performance in history” and said Biden was so “bad that no one will pay attention to Trump’s lies.”
“Biden has to get out. There’s no question about it,” the donor said in a text message, proposing an alternative ticket led by the governors of Maryland and Michigan.
At least two prominent potential contenders for 2028: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and California Governor. Gavin Newsom — said they supported Biden even after his performance.
When pressed on MSNBC about whether Biden would resign, Newsom said talking is “not helpful” and “unnecessary.”
“You don’t turn away because of one performance,” Newsom said. “What kind of party does that?”
Biden struggled during much of the debate, in the first 2024 general election between the president and the former president President Donald Trump. The 81-year-old president has long faced questions about his fitness for office, and the debate — the first general election matchup of its kind in modern political history — had been a gambit by the Biden campaign to spin the narrative reset the race.
For weeks, Democrats had hoped that a strong performance by Biden in the debate could ease concerns about his age. Instead, it did the opposite.
“No Labels and Dean Phillips won this debate,” a former senior Biden White House official said, referring to efforts by outsiders to push another candidate, not named Trump or Biden, into the race.
While the party’s pleas are unlikely to actually result in a change on top of the ticket, they reflect a major turn in the campaign. Incumbent presidents have traditionally underperformed in their first debates; they were overwhelmed by the demands of their jobs and were often unable to dedicate serious time to preparation. But Thursday’s debate was unique in that it confirmed an existing prejudice of Biden as a candidate among many voters after his sales debate.
An adviser to major Democratic Party donors said they texted from a donor meeting in Atlanta Thursday night, with some writing “wtf.”
“Our only hope is that he withdraws, that we have a mediated convention, or that he dies,” the donor advisor said. “Otherwise we’re fucking dead.”
Still, the chances of a brokered convention or Biden stepping aside are unlikely, a reality acknowledged by even those who privately complained about Biden’s performance.
“There’s only one person who can decide, and that’s him,” said a Democratic strategist.
Biden’s campaign responded to the criticism of the president, with one adviser calling him “the only person who ever beat Donald Trump.”
“He’ll do it again,” the adviser said. “Donald Trump has not given voters a single reason to vote for him tonight. On these issues, the American people stand with Joe Biden.”
When asked if Biden would withdraw, a campaign aide replied: “Of course not.” The aide said the hour just after the debate – from 11pm to midnight – was the campaign’s strongest hour of grassroots fundraising since its launch.
In a statement, Biden campaign chairman Jen O’Malley Dillon said Biden “presented a positive and winning vision for America’s future,” while Trump offered “a dark and backward window into what America will look like when he steps back from future’. White House.”
Stephanie Cutter, a Democratic consultant, said: “President Biden is the Democratic nominee and that is not going to change with one debate performance.”
She said: “We need to calm down and stay focused because Donald Trump certainly did not win any voters tonight.”
But for many Democrats, the picture was much bleaker Thursday night. A statewide Democrat running for office said, “I mean, it’s not great everywhere. Our president has a speech impediment, has a cold and is 81.”
“Nobody expected a master class in debating from Joe Biden, but nobody expected this nosedive,” said a senior adviser to top Democratic officials. “He was bad on message, bad on substance, bad on counterattack, bad on delivery, bad on nonverbal communication. There was no silver lining for him in this debate. The only silver lining is that this was in June and not October.”
