The more than shaky performance of American President Joe Biden in the first debate between him and Donald Trump shook the Democratic camp, to the point of raising the question of a possible change of candidate, unprecedented at this stage of the campaign, for the November presidential election in the United States.
Biden supporters had hoped that Thursday’s prime-time debate on CNN would dispel concerns about the president’s age, 81. But the 90-minute showdown appeared to have had the opposite effect.
During a confrontation that was sometimes downright vicious, the Democrat tried to push his opponent into a corner and to praise his record as well as his vision of America. But his remarks often fell flat, due to a particularly muddled delivery.
Biden spoke with a hoarse voice — the result of a cold, White House officials said — stumbling over his words several times early in the debate and appearing at times to lose his train of thought.
>> Watch the highlights of the debate on video:
>> Read also: Invective between a confused Joe Biden and an offensive Donald Trump during the first presidential debate
“Disappointing”, “disaster”, “suicide mission”…
Distressed reactions and calls to withdraw from anonymous Democrats spread as soon as the debate ended. Joe Biden’s performance “was disappointing, there’s no other way to say it,” admitted former White House communications director Kate Bedingfield.
“It was undoubtedly a disaster,” said political scientist Larry Sabato bluntly for AFP.
Sent to try to put out the fire, Vice-President Kamala Harris conceded that Joe Biden had been “slow to start”. But she insisted voters should judge both candidates on their performance in office and not just the debate.
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“There are a lot of people who watched this tonight who feel terrible for Joe Biden,” former Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill said on MSNBC. “I don’t know if there’s anything we can do to fix it.”
“There will be discussions about whether he should continue,” one of former President Barack Obama’s top strategists, David Axelrod, openly acknowledged on CNN.
There will be discussions about whether it should continue
Some party officials referred to a social media post by Ravi Gupta, a former Obama campaign aide. “Every Democrat I know is texting me saying this is bad,” he wrote on for a selection process. I’ll vote for a corpse over Trump, but it’s a suicide mission.”
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We must support the president. We don’t go back because of a single performance
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential presidential candidate who was Biden’s most prominent representative in the Atlanta press room on the sidelines of the debate, urged Democrats not to panic.
“I think it’s unnecessary. And I think it’s not necessary. We have to go, we have to hold our heads high,” Gavin Newsom said in an interview on MSNBC. “We have to support the president. You don’t back down because of one performance. What kind of party does that?”
An unprecedented and unlikely scenario
The scenario of a withdrawal of the Democratic candidate would be unprecedented just five months before the presidential election of November 5 and it remains extremely implausible. Barring any major surprises, Joe Biden should be nominated by his party for the November presidential election during the Democratic convention in Chicago in mid-August.
>> Read also: Joe Biden and Donald Trump assured of being their party’s presidential candidates
Under current Democratic Party rules, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to replace Joe Biden as the party’s nominee unless he announces he is withdrawing from the race or without party officials being ready to rewrite its rules at the national convention in August.
“Of course he’s not giving up.”
Joe Biden, for his part, indicated that he had no intention of withdrawing, telling his supporters in Atlanta, shortly after leaving the debate stage: “Let’s continue!” Lauren Hitt, a spokesperson for Joe Biden’s campaign, was even clearer, saying: “It’s obvious he’s not dropping out of the race.”
Republicans, for their part, rejoiced at Joe Biden’s poor performance. But Donald Trump’s campaign chief dismissed rumors that Democrats would try to nominate anyone other than Joe Biden.
“There are so many political pundits on X that we’re going to hear a lot from them, I’m sure, in the coming days, because they’ve all run so many campaigns,” Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to the Republican candidate, said sarcastically. “But that’s only going to happen if Joe Biden voluntarily steps aside, which he’s not going to do.”
The fact remains that Joe Biden’s poor performance very likely marks a turning point in a campaign that has been extremely close so far: the two candidates are neck and neck in the states likely to swing the election.
However, it is very difficult to say whether the debate will radically move the lines, in a country where political polarization is extreme.
>> Listen to RTS correspondent in the United States Aviva Fried discuss the doubts of the Democratic camp on Friday on RTS 7:30 p.m.:
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