A state of “unrest” among Democrats sparked by US President Joe Biden’s debate with his Republican rival, Donald Trump, on Thursday, according to a report published by the newspaper Wall Street Journal.
The newspaper confirms that the debate raised a state of concern among Biden’s allies among some Democrats, which prompted lawmakers and wealthy donors to consider “whether Biden should remain” the Democratic Party’s candidate or not, due to concerns about his age.
With a hoarse voice due to a cold, Biden seemed to rush through some points during the debate, stumble over some answers and appear less confident in others, according to a report published by Reuters.
Early in the debate, Biden paused while making a point about health care and tax reform and appeared to lose his train of thought.
Trump attacked Biden for his ramblings, saying at one point: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said.”
A report by Agence France-Presse indicated that the American media spoke after the debate about a real “panic” caused by the debate among the Democrats, four months before the elections and about six weeks before the conference in which the American president is supposed to be appointed the party’s official candidate.
Biden: I know how to tell the truth
“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 how to tell the truth,” Biden told a rally of his supporters in North Carolina.
“I know right from wrong. I know how to do the job. I know how to get things done. I know, as millions of Americans know, that when you fall, you get back up again,” he added.
Biden continued to his supporters, “Did you see Trump last night? I think he set a new record for the largest number of lies in a single debate.”
Biden, commenting on his performance in the debate: What I know is how to tell the truth
US President Joe Biden on Friday attacked his Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, describing him as a real threat to the United States, while affirming his intention to move forward with the presidential race scheduled for next November.
He also said, “I would not have run again if I had not believed with all my heart that I was capable of doing this job.”
Biden stressed, “Donald Trump is the greatest threat to this nation. He is a threat to our freedom. He is a threat to our democracy. He is literally a threat to everything America stands for.”
A Biden campaign spokesman later confirmed that there were no talks about replacing Biden, and that the US President planned to participate in another debate with Trump in September.
Democrats Speak
A scathing article by Thomas Friedman, who presents himself as a “friend” of the US president, published Friday in the newspaper, The New York Timescriticizing Biden.
The journalist wrote that Biden is “a good man, a good president, but he is not in a position to run for a second term,” revealing that he “cried” when he saw the 81-year-old Democratic president, who appeared exhausted at times and stuttered during a 90-minute debate in front of the cameras of the American CNN news network.
In a post on the X platform, Maria Shriver, the niece of John F. Kennedy, the US president who was assassinated in 1963, and an ally of Biden, wrote, “My heart is broken.”
Lawmakers said Friday they were “discussing how to move forward” in the wake of the disappointing and troubling debate performance, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch said, “I think we have some decisions to make as a party. We need to have this discussion right away. I like him. He’s a good, decent man, but the performance last night was appalling.”
Biden and Trump in the first presidential debate.. Who wins?
The curtain fell on Thursday evening on one of the most controversial presidential debates in the United States.
Democratic Rep. Susie Lee said she “doesn’t know if another Democrat would be better positioned to beat Trump in November.”
She added that Democrats “absolutely” need to talk about how to move forward after the debate, noting that “it was terrible.”
“His debate performance was really disappointing, there’s no other way to say it,” Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s former public relations director, told CNN after the debate.
One Biden donor, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters that his performance was “incompetent” and predicted that some Democrats would reconsider calls for him to withdraw.
“Call for withdrawal”
The editorial board of the newspaper called for The New York Times US President Biden to withdraw from White House race the day after debate
“Biden has been an impressive president,” the newspaper wrote in an editorial published Friday. “Under his leadership, the nation has prospered, begun to address a series of long-standing challenges, and the wounds opened by Trump have begun to heal. But the greatest public service Biden can perform now is to announce that he will not continue… In running for re-election.
Debate in US media: Biden ‘worries Democrats’, Trump ‘raises concerns’
The first debate between Democratic President Joe Biden and his Republican predecessor Donald Trump, as part of the 2024 US presidential election campaign, ended on Thursday, after an hour and a half of discussions that covered a variety of issues related to US domestic and foreign policies.
In an op-ed titled “To Serve the Country, President Biden Must Leave the Race” for the White House, the New York Times described Biden as a “shadow leader,” after the 81-year-old president “failed his own test.”
Obama: A lot is at stake in November
Former Democratic President Barack Obama wrote on Twitter, “Bad debates can happen,” but the election “is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary people his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth and knows right from wrong (Biden)… and someone who lies for his own gain (Trump).”
Obama responds to criticism of Biden’s debate performance, while Biden affirms his commitment to his campaign
Former US President Barack Obama acknowledged on Friday that the performance of Democratic President Joe Biden was “bad” in a debate against his Republican rival in the US presidential elections, Donald Trump, on Thursday, but he stressed that he continues to support Biden, while stressing The American President is committed to the electoral race.
“Last night didn’t change that, so a lot is at stake in November,” Obama added.
Trump reiterates criticism of Biden
Trump also returned to the election campaign on Friday, addressing a rally in Virginia where he launched his familiar attacks on Biden.
“It’s not about his age, it’s about his competence,” Trump said, adding, “The question every voter should ask himself is not if Joe Biden can survive a 90-minute debate, but if America can survive another four years under the rule of… Fraudster Joe Biden.”
“A lot of people are saying that after last night’s performance, Joe Biden is going to leave the race. But I don’t really believe that, because he’s polling better than any of the other Democrats they’re talking about,” Trump continued.
Is there an alternative to Biden?
The most prominent candidate to replace him is his deputy Kamala Harris, who loyally defended his performance on Thursday, while admitting that his start was “difficult,” according to Agence France-Presse.
American writer, Lydia Polgreen, said in an article in The New York Times Friday said that “Kamala Harris can win the elections,” considering that she constitutes “the clear and logical path out of the chaos that Biden created with his disastrous performance.”
The agency believes that the scenario of choosing another candidate remains completely unlikely in reality. It is expected that, unless a major surprise occurs, the party will officially appoint Biden as its presidential candidate.
Analysts believe that choosing the Democrats as an alternative to Biden will entail several political risks, and Biden will have to decide himself to withdraw to make way for another candidate before the party conference.
If Biden decides to withdraw, Democrats will meet in August in Chicago for what is known as the “open” convention, where the cards will be reshuffled, especially the votes of the delegates who voted for the president.
This scenario, if it actually happens, will be unprecedented since 1968, when the party had to find an alternative to President Lyndon Johnson after the latter withdrew his candidacy in the midst of the Vietnam War.
Vice President Hubert Humphrey was nominated, but lost the election to Republican Richard Nixon.
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