The verdict has been unanimous and condemning. It was a “political disaster” that caused “consternation” within the ranks of the party with just over four months left until the elections.
Thursday night’s showdown with Trump was meant to be an opportunity for Biden, 81, to dispel doubts about his advanced age and fitness for office, and to publicly portray his rival as an “existential threat” to the American democracy, the campaign argument used by the Democrats.
But his speech was halting. He stumbled several times, seemed to lose his train of thought and said, “I’m not going to be a party leader.” As a result, some Democrats are considering behind the scenes whether he should remain the party’s nominee, which has until August to decide.
Throughout 90 minutes, Biden barely tried to counteract the bombastic style of Trump, who was energetic and forceful. The moderators of CNN, the network that organized the debate, helped a sometimes confused Biden and passed the floor to Trump, even though Biden has not finished within the time established for each response.
Biden was seen on screen staring, mouth open, as Trump, 78, spoke.
“It was not a good debate for Joe Biden,” former Democratic White House communications chief Kate Bedingfield told CNN as the curtain fell on the confrontation.
Biden admits failure and justifies himself
Joe Biden made it clear Friday that he would not run again if he did not believe he could do “this job because, frankly, the stakes are too high,” following his disastrous debate against Trump.
“I don’t walk as easily as I used to, I don’t speak as fluently as I used to, I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what I know: I know how to tell the truth,” Biden said at a rally in North Carolina (east). . “I know right from wrong. I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. I know, as millions of Americans know, that when you get knocked down, you get back up,” he added.
Biden campaign: defeat is “cosmetic”
Mitch Landrieu, the head of Biden’s electoral campaign, has acknowledged the president’s poor performance during this morning’s debate against Donald Trump, but the president’s advisors, in the face of the doubts raised, maintain that he intends to maintain his candidacy. to re-election in November and to even appear in a second debate after the summer.
“I think (Biden) had a tough night, there’s no doubt about that,” Landrieu told CNN before saying that Biden’s defeat is “cosmetic” rather than practical. “It is possible that he has lost in style, but he has gained it in the field of facts and in the area of decency,” he justified.
At the same time, Biden’s advisers, speaking on condition of anonymity, have reiterated that the president intends to participate in the second debate in August, organized by the ABC network, and to maintain his candidacy for re-election.
Replace it?
These advisors acknowledged that Biden’s performance was “far from what was expected” but the campaign’s plan will be to highlight the moments of the debate most favorable to Biden before “moving forward.”
Publicly, Biden campaign spokesman Seth Schuster has been the one to dispel any doubts on the matter. “There is no basis for saying Biden is going to drop out of the race. We have no indication that voters have expressed that desire,” he added.
For now, no Democratic figure has publicly asked Biden to withdraw, and most follow a clear party line on maintaining the existing formula.
“I will never turn my back on President Biden,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has been on multiple lists of potential replacements.
“I don’t know any Democrat in my party who would do that,” Newsom told reporters.
Analysts say forcing a change would be politically difficult, so Biden would have to decide to step down and make way for another candidate before the party convention.
His vice president, Kamala Harris, loyally defended her boss on Thursday while acknowledging that he had gotten off to a “slow start.”
“Panic in the Democratic Party”
Maria Shriver, a leading member of the Democratic Kennedy dynasty, made a statement that seemed more like an elegy for Biden’s re-election hopes.
“I love Joe Biden. I know he is a good man,” he posted on the social network X. “Tonight was heartbreaking in many ways (…) There is panic in the Democratic Party.”
Both candidates return to the electoral campaign this Friday: Trump with a rally in Virginia and Biden in North Carolina, both in the east of the country.
Despite critical voices criticizing his performance, Biden insists that he “came out with flying colors.”
“I think we did well,” he said. He attributed his hoarse voice to a “sore throat” and added that, in any case, it was “hard to debate a liar.”
But disappointment among Democrats is such that there is behind-the-scenes talk of finding a new candidate before the party’s convention in August.
The New York Times says Democrats, including members of his administration, followed the debate with concern, calling and texting each other “frantically.”
Some also “discussed among themselves privately whether it is too late to convince the president to step down in favour of a younger candidate,” the paper added.
Obama reiterates his support for Biden
Former President Barack Obama came forward this Friday in support of the current president, Joe Biden, after the disastrous debate. Although “bad debate nights also happen,” there are “many things at stake” in the November elections.
“This election is still about deciding between someone who has fought his whole life for ordinary people and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth, who knows right from wrong (…) and someone who knowingly lies for their own benefit,” he said in a message posted on the social network X, in which he avoided naming Trump.
Obama has been one of the main drivers of Biden’s presidency, who was his vice president during his administration.
“Last night doesn’t change that,” Obama added. In recent years, both have shown signs of continuing to maintain good harmony, so the former president’s positioning is key now that the debate has even arisen in the American media about the possibility of a last-minute change in the Democratic candidacy.
Among those who have reaffirmed their support for Biden is also former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, an electoral candidate in 2016, who in another message confirmed that she will vote for the current president in November. “The choice is very simple” and, in her opinion, it involves understanding that there is a candidate who “cares about the citizens” and another who does so “for himself,” the discourse that the Democrats maintain in an attempt to overcome Biden’s disastrous performance during the debate.
Source: With information from AFP and Europa Press
