In the aftermath of the first presidential debate on Thursday night, an age-old question took on new urgency: Should Biden drop out of the race?
The 90-minute debate, hosted by CNN and moderated by the organizations' Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, was, as Vanity Fair's Beth Levin wrote, “a terrible night in which people who care about the fate of the country, the world, the universe, collapsed on the floor in the fetal position and no one could get up.”
President Joe Biden's performance was filled with exactly the scenes Democrats wanted to avoid: He looked old and worn; his rival, former President Donald Trump, told lie after lie about abortion, taxes, immigration, and more; there was no real-time fact-checking by CNN; and some scenes, like Biden, in his 70s and 80s, bragging about his golfing skills, were just painful to watch.
Biden touched on his showdown with Trump, speaking of his performance at a campaign event in North Carolina on Friday. “Did you see Trump last night? My guess is he set a new record for the most lies told in a single debate, and I mean that,” Biden said. He added, “Folks, I don't walk as easily as I used to. I don't talk as smoothly as I used to. I don't debate as well as I used to. But I know what I know. I know how to tell the truth.”
According to a report by The Daily Beast, after the debate, Biden campaign spokesman Seth Schuster texted multiple media outlets saying, “Of course he's not backing out.”
The mechanics of replacing Biden would be difficult, if not impossible, to say the least, and those calling for Biden to withdraw from the race and give up all of his delegates so far (3,894 of the 3,937 he has secured so far, according to an Associated Press tally) have responded swiftly and harshly.
The New York Times editorial board wrote, “The president emerged Thursday night as a shadow of the great public servant he is. He struggled to explain what he would accomplish in a second term. He struggled to respond to Mr. Trump's provocations. He struggled to hold Mr. Trump accountable for his lies, mistakes and terrible plans. More than once, he struggled to finish sentences.”
“Democrats have a responsibility to put the interests of the nation above the ambitions of any one person,” the committee continued.
The Times also published two other opinion pieces in the debate's aftermath: one by columnist Nicholas Kristof, “President Biden, We've Seen Enough,” and another by Thomas Friedman, “I watched the Biden-Trump debate alone in a hotel room in Lisbon and cried. I can't remember a more heartbreaking moment in American electoral politics in my life, and that's precisely because the debate made it clear that Joe Biden is a good man and a good president, but he should not run for reelection.”
A prominent Democrat who speaks frequently with the president said those around Biden should tell him “the absolute truth about where he is” and that “loyalty doesn't mean blind loyalty,” according to Axios.
It didn't take long for Biden supporters to jump in and try to reassure anxious Americans.
“Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know,” former President Barack Obama posted on Twitter on Friday afternoon. “But this election is a choice between someone who has spent their whole life fighting for the common man, and someone who only thinks about himself.”
