Biden's debate disaster: President freezes up against Trump
CBC
It was agony in Atlanta — for Joe Biden, for Democrats, and for anyone around the world dreading another Donald Trump presidency.
Because the chances of that happening just grew.
Biden appeared confused for an agonizing 14 seconds early on, in a catastrophic moment that will enter the cringe-inducing annals in the history of presidential debates.
His voice raspy, his gaze distant, Biden's early slip-ups immediately prompted chatter about whether the sitting president should withdraw from the race. It had Democrats eyeing the calendar and wondering whether Biden might step aside before their convention in two months, so delegates can pick a different nominee.
After the debate ended, there was hardly any need for a Republican on the post-event panels; the despondent Democrats were brutal enough, speculating about Biden dropping out.
"It's not just panic, it's pain," Democratic analyst Van Jones said in a cri de coeur on CNN, right after Thursday's debate ended.
"I love Joe Biden. I worked for Joe Biden … I love that guy. That's a good man," Jones said.
"[But] I think there's a lot of people who are going to want to see him consider taking a different course now. We're still far from our convention. And there is time for this party to figure out a different way forward, if he will allow us to do that."
Former Democratic senator Claire McCaskill, over on MSNBC, also described herself as heartbroken. She couldn't say whether Biden will remain the candidate, and added that she was being deluged with texts from terrified party donors and members of Congress.
Biden's cognitive clunkers distracted from what ordinarily would have been the main post-debate story in any normal political era: Trump's own deficiencies.
The former president made wild claims; he showed no contrition for his role in one of the darkest moments in American history — the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021; and he wouldn't say unequivocally whether he will accept the results of this election.
But a well-respected, non-partisan U.S. elections analyst argued that the damage here was unquestionable: Biden lost ground, Amy Walter said.
It was Biden who asked for this debate, months earlier than usual, because he was keen to reset the race, where he's behind in most polls.
"Instead, only thing we're talking about is Biden's poor performance," tweeted Walter, the editor-in-chief of the Cook Political Report.
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