As Biden faced Trump yesterday night for the first presidential debate on CNN, panic spread in his party because of Biden’s lackluster debate punctuated by stumbles, pauses, freezing moments.Democrats questioned in public and private whether the party could or should replace him as the party’s presidential nominee.
The concerns came after Biden’s age (81) came under question as he was seen lost, drifting off in several public appearances, which the White House dismissed as part of disinformation campaign.
Former Obama campaign aide Ravi Gupta posted on X: “Every Democrat I know is texting that this is bad. Just say it publicly and begin the hard work of creating space in the convention for a selection process. I’ll vote for a corpse over Trump, but this is a suicide mission.”
“There’ve been a lot of Dem luminaries and media personalities who denigrated those of us who pointed out what every normal American could see what their own eyes. Even when Axelrod tried to politely suggest Biden reconsider, he was shut down by Klain and others. It’s time for accountability in this party,” Gupta wrote adding that It could be a blessing that the debate happened in June and not September but only if the party does something about it.
But as the Democrats started panicking seeing their candidate wilting in front of a boisterous Trump, the leaders assured as Vice President Kamala Harris said it was a slow start. “I’m talking about the choice in November. I’m talking about one of the most important elections in our collective lifetime,” she said after the debate.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential future presidential candidate who was Biden’s most prominent surrogate in the Atlanta spin room, urged Democrats not to panic.
“I think it’s unhelpful. And I think it’s unnecessary. We’ve got to go in, we’ve got to keep our heads high,” Newsom said in an interview on MSNBC. “We’ve got to have the back of this president. You don’t turn back because of one performance. What kind of party does that?”
