President Joe Biden worked forcefully on June 28 to quell Democratic anxieties over his unsteady showing in his debate with the criminally convicted ex-president Donald Trump, as elected members of his party closed ranks around him in an effort to shut down talk of replacing him atop the ticket.
President Biden’s halting delivery and meandering comments, particularly early in the debate, fueled concerns from even members of his own party that at age 81 he’s not up for the task of leading the country for another four years.
“I know I’m not a young man … I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to, but I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong.” – President Joe Biden
His lackluster performance created a crisis moment for President Biden’s campaign and his presidency, as members of his party flirted with potential replacements, and donors and supporters could not contain their concern about his showing against Trump.
President Biden appeared to acknowledge the criticism during a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, saying “I don’t debate as well as I used to.” But he added, “I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done.”
Speaking for 18 minutes, President Biden presented himself as far more animated than he had the night before as he excoriated Trump for his “lies” and for waging a vicious campaign aimed at “revenge and retribution.”
“The choice in this election is simple,” President Biden said. “Donald Trump will destroy our democracy. I will defend it.”
He added, alluding to his candidacy, “When you get knocked down, you get back up.”
Even before the debate, President Biden’s age had been a liability with voters, and the June 27 faceoff appeared to reinforce the public’s deep-seated concerns before perhaps the largest audience he will garner in the four months until Election Day.
Privately, his campaign worked to tamp down concerns and keep donors and surrogates on board. Democratic lawmakers on June 28 acknowledged President Biden’s poor showing, but tried to stop talk of replacing him as their standard-bearer, and instead shift the focus to Trump’s attacks and falsehoods.
“Well, the president didn’t have a good night, but neither did Donald Trump with lie after lie and his dark vision for America,” said North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, hours before he introduced the president in Raleigh. “We cannot send Donald Trump back to the White House. He’s an existential threat to our nation.”
Former President Barack Obama backed up his former vice president, posting on X that “Bad debate nights happen.” Alluding to his own poor showing in the first debate of his reelection campaign in 2012, Obama continued, “Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November.”
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries answered with a flat “no” when asked on June 28 if President Biden should step aside.
Representative Ritchie Torres, D-NY, allowed he “had to take a few more antidepressants than usual” after President Biden’s debate showing. But he added that “a Donald Trump presidency would cause me far greater discomfort than a Joe Biden debate performance.”
President Biden’s campaign billed the Raleigh event as the largest-yet rally of his reelection bid in the state Trump carried by the narrowest margin in 2020. He then traveled to New York for a weekend of big-dollar fundraisers that his campaign now needs more than ever.
While Trump’s campaign said it was able to graft more than $8 million from the start of the debate through the end of the night, President Biden’s campaign announced that it raised $14 million on debate day and the morning after.
Vice President Kamala Harris, whom the Biden campaign sent out to defend his performance, tried to reassure President Biden supporters at a rally in Las Vegas on June 28, saying, “This race will not be decided by one night in June.
“This race will be decided by you. By us,” she said. “Who sits in the White House next year will be determined by what we together do in these next 130 days.”
Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler said there had been no internal conversations “whatsoever” about President Biden stepping aside, though he, too, acknowledged that the president had a “bad night” on stage.
Representative Emanuel Cleaver, D-MO, said he could hardly sleep because of the number of telephone calls he got after President Biden performed poorly in the debate.
“People were just concerned. And I told everybody being concerned is healthy, overreacting is dangerous,” Cleaver said.
Representative James Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat whose support in that state helped President Biden secure the Democratic nomination four years ago, said he would likely speak to the president later and his message would be simple: “Stay the course.”
President Biden and his team have long wagered that voters would look past their concerns about his age and unpopularity when confronted at the ballot box with a choice between the president and Trump. Despite their concerns about President Biden’s performance, they took solace in Trump doing little to expand his own appeal to voters on June 27.
Polls from CNN and 538/Ipsos conducted soon after the debate found that most debate-watchers thought Trump outperformed President Biden. But the two men’s favorability ratings remained largely unchanged, just as they did in the aftermath of Trump’s conviction.
Democrats seized on Trump’s equivocations on whether he would accept the will of voters this time around, his refusal to condemn the rioters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, trying to overturn his 2020 loss to President Biden.
“On debate night, one guy needed a lozenge, and the other guy needed a reminder that he’s not running for dictator of North Korea,” said Ben Wikler, Chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party
Trump also continued to take credit for installing the conservative-dominated Supreme Court, which two years ago overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized nationwide abortion for decades. But President Biden fumbled on abortion rights, one of the most important issues for Democrats in this year’s election.
As elected Democrats united behind President Biden publicly, donors and party operatives shared panicked text messages and phone calls expressing their concern that President Biden’s performance was so bad that he may be unelectable this fall.
But there were no immediate signs of organized efforts among donors, his campaign leadership or the Democratic National Committee to convince the president to step aside, according to interviews with several people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive conversations.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat frequently mentioned as a 2028 contender and speculated about as a potential replacement for President Biden, released a statement backing him on June 28.
“The difference between Joe Biden’s vision for making sure everyone in America has a fair shot and Donald Trump’s dangerous, self-serving plans will only get sharper as we head toward November,” she said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom also dismissed questions on whether he would consider stepping in for President Biden, telling reporters, “I will never turn my back on him.”
Under current Democratic Party rules, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to replace President Biden as the party’s nominee without his cooperation or without party officials being willing to rewrite the rules at the August national convention.
“Donald Trump is a dangerous threat to our democracy, he’s incapable of being honest and telling the truth, and I am deeply concerned about his radical agenda and what he will do if he returns to the Oval Office,” said Governor Tony Evers. “I’ll be voting for President Biden this November because I believe he’s a man of integrity. At the end of the day, I think the choice in this election is clear, and it’s always been clear. One debate doesn’t change how President Biden has delivered for Wisconsin over the last three and a half years. I supported President Biden four years ago, and I support him still today.”
