The Democrats are actively discussing the possibility of replacing Joe Biden on their ticket for the November 5 election after the US president’s “faltering” display in his first debate against Republican rival Donald Trump, Politico has reported.
Hopes among the Democrats that a strong performance by the 81-year-old Biden would ease concerns about his advanced age had turned out to be in vain, the outlet acknowledged on Thursday. “Instead, it [the debate] did the opposite,” leaving the party “panicked,” Politico said.
“No one expected this nosedive,” a senior adviser to top Democratic officials told the outlet. Biden “was bad on message, bad on substance, bad on counter punching, bad on presentation, bad on non-verbals. There was no bright spot in this debate for him.”
According to the report, three strategists close to three potential Democratic presidential candidates “had been bombarded with text messages” as the CNN-hosted debate in Atlanta, Georgia was underway.
One adviser told Politico that fellow Democrats wanted their candidate to step forward as an alternative to Biden. Another claimed that they had “taken no less than half a dozen key donors texting ‘disaster’ and [the] party needs to do something,” but stressed that “not much is possible” unless Biden himself decides to withdraw from the race, the outlet said.
One major Democratic donor, who previously supported Biden, said in a text message that the president had delivered “the worst performance in history” during his debate with Trump, according to Politico.
“Biden needs to drop out. No question about it,” the donor insisted, suggesting Maryland Governor Wes Moore or his Michigan counterpart, Gretchen Whitmer, as possible replacements.
An adviser to major Democratic Party donors told the outlet that some of his bosses, who had gathered for a meeting in Atlanta, were texting “WTF” as they watched the debate.
“Our only hope is that he bows out, we have a brokered convention, or dies. Otherwise we are f***ing dead,” the adviser said, as cited by Politico.
A CNN Flash Poll issued after the debate revealed that 67% of registered voters who watched the event thought Trump outperformed Biden on the night.
When asked by Politico if Biden is planning to step aside amid the backlash, a campaign aide replied “of course not.” Another member of the president’s team insisted that Biden is “the only person who has ever beaten Donald Trump. He will do it again.”