After Joe Biden vaguely ended a debate, cable news network commentators pondered what would happen next.
Will there be a contentious Democratic National Convention? So what to do? They say replacing the president may not be an option, but many acknowledge that Democrats are talking about the issue, spurred by Biden’s troubling debate performance.
MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace explains how candidates can unleash their delegates. Joy Reed said someone sent her the rules.
“The rules are spreading,” Wallace laughed.
“No one is saying this is going to happen, it’s highly unlikely,” Reed reiterated.
The fact that liberal networks would broach the idea of whether an incumbent running for reelection could be replaced if he wins the nomination shows how Democrats are scrambling to affirm Biden’s ability to lead the country after the debate. Many question whether the party should seriously consider what else to do.
From the start, Biden struggled in the first debate of the 2024 presidential election. His voice is hard to hear, his lines are slurred, some of which – had they been delivered with the intended force – could have landed successfully. He said Donald Trump had “wildcat morals,” but even that quip was hard to discern.
Biden challenged the former president to an earlier-than-usual debate in an effort to reverse the campaign’s momentum. He delivered a powerful State of the Union address that was sharp and energetic. A debate could give his campaign some boost as he trails Trump in the polls.
Rather than stage a victory parade or the more common debate over who claimed to have won the debate, Democrats apparently viewed Biden’s performance as a liability.
Kamala Harris later appeared on CNN and MSNBC to push back and reiterate why voters should support Biden. Both she and Biden’s surrogate, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, spoke repeatedly about how Trump lied and deflected throughout the debate and tried to remind voters what Trump’s presidency was about like, and what it might look like.
“It’s been a slow start, no doubt, but I think it’s been a strong finish,” the vice president said on MSNBC before listing Biden’s accomplishments. He said Biden has worked hard for people. war, and Trump fights for himself.
Newsom called the questions “unhelpful” and “unnecessary” on MSNBC. These conversations are a “rabbit hole” that will damage Biden’s record and hinder democracy and the fate of the country.
“We have to have the support of this president,” Newsom said. “You don’t turn away from a show. What kind of party is this?”
The assurances come as Democratic staffers and officials, both publicly and behind the scenes, fret about their prospects in a November debate in which Biden’s age and sharpness are his biggest liabilities, Become the center of attention.
Democratic strategist and former Obama campaign official David Plouffe called the debate “kind of a Defcon 1 moment.”
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“The most important thing in this election is the concerns voters have about his age – both swing voters and base voters – and tonight those concerns are compounded,” Plouff said.
Democrats have suggested ways the Biden camp could turn the tables and take voters’ eyes off his performance: send out his surrogates to back him, have strong speakers like Harris or Newsom appear on morning shows, Announce an initiative or support, or a big idea. Anything to change the narrative.
What’s at stake in this election – the fate of democracy itself – underscores how important Democrats consider victory in November and their concern that Biden could lose to Trump, who represents a rejection of their most fundamental values. attack.
Former first lady of California Maria Shriver said she loves Biden and knows he is a good man, but the night was “heartbreaking in so many ways.”
“This is an important political moment. There’s panic within the Democratic Party. It’s going to be a long night.”
Nicholas Kristof, a left-wing political columnist, said on Twitter/X that he hoped Biden would reflect on the debate and decide to drop out of the race and let the convention decide who should be the nominee. He suggested Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown or Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, among others.
Former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill said on MSNBC that Biden had one job and he didn’t do it: He needed to “assure America that he could do the job at his age, and he failed.” “. She said Democrats are privately doing more than tying the knot, wondering why Biden surrogates who have excelled in countering Biden’s debate performance aren’t among the top prospects.
“I know what it feels like tonight: It feels like a punch in the gut,” McCaskill said.
