Panicked Dems scramble to potentially replace Biden after 'dismal' debate performance: report
Some Democrats are reportedly panicking after President Joe Biden's performance during Thursday's debate against former President Donald Trump, with some suggesting that he should be replaced as the 2024 Democratic nominee.
Three strategists close to three potential Democratic presidential candidates were inundated with text messages last night encouraging them to push their candidates into replacing Biden, they told Politico.
Biden was widely panned for his halting, stammering debate performance on Thursday, during which he repeatedly appeared to lose his train of thought while staring blankly and slack-jawed into the distance.
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Pundits on mainstream media outlets typically defensive of the president admitted his poor performance. CNN anchor John King said that prominent Democrats he spoke to described Biden's performance as "dismal."
"They are having conversations about the president's performance, which they think was dismal, which they think will hurt other people down the party in the ticket, and they're having conversations about what they should do about it," King said.
"Some of those conversations include, 'Should we go to the White House and ask the president to step aside?' Other conversations are about, 'Should prominent Democrats go public with that call?' Because the debate was so terrible," he added.
CNN's John King immediate reaction, insists that Democrats are plotting a public intervention to remove Joe Biden.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) June 28, 2024
Wow. pic.twitter.com/vjMSvZKITK
"No one expected a master class in debating from Joe Biden, but no one expected this nose dive," a senior Democratic adviser told Politico. "He 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. The only bright spot is that this happened in June and not October."
Jon Favreau, who served as former President Barack Obama's speechwriter, dismissed Biden's debate performance as a "disaster" on "Pod Save America" on Friday.
"I think it was like maybe the worst debate I've ever seen in my entire life. ... It was so [expletive] awful because Joe Biden, just in every single way, failed at that debate," he said.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., urged Democrats to "chill the [expletive] out" amid the reports of their widespread panic.
"I refuse to join the Democratic vultures on Biden's shoulder after the debate. No one knows more than me that a rough debate is not the sum total of the person and their record," said Fetterman, who won his Senate race against Dr. Mehmet Oz in 2022 despite taking flak for a lackluster debate performance.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., urged Vice President Kamala Harris and members of Biden's Cabinet to consider removing Biden from office by invoking the 25th Amendment, according to Politico.
"I would ask the Cabinet members to search their hearts. … And we hope that they will do their duty, as we all seek to do our duty to do best by the American people. These are fateful moments," Johnson told reporters.
"If I were in the Cabinet … I would be having that discussion with my colleagues at the Cabinet level," Johnson said regarding the 25th Amendment. "I would. … We'll see what action they take. It's a serious situation."
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to [email protected]
