Some Democrats are not thrilled with President Joe Biden’s performance at the first 2024 presidential debate, stating he “has to go.”
“The mass panic among Democrats began last night about 12 minutes into the debate,” Politico writes.
Biden’s raspy, rambling performance during the debate sparked concern, as IJR also reported on.
Politico reports that multiple Democrats reached out, including a Democratic House member who said, “I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue.”
A former senior Obama official wrote to the outlet:
“I’m on a lot of chains of people gaming out how Biden withdraws. Need open convention. He has to go. Who are the grandees who could tell Biden to go? [BARACK] OBAMA? [BILL] CLINTON? [AL] GORE? [NANCY] PELOSI? [JIM] CLYBURN?”
Additionally, a Democratic operative said, “I think there are short lists being made,” listing Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
A trainwreck GIF was also sent by a Clinton alum.
A White House aide told the outlet that Biden looked strong when he engaged with a crowd outside of the debate. However, the outlet wrote, “Some Biden aides found the performance so concerning that, we’re told, they spent last night updating their LinkedIns just in case.”
Following the debate, CNN’s John King said, “This was a game-changing debate in the sense that right now as we speak. there is a deep, a wide, and a very aggressive panic in the Democratic Party. It started minutes into the debate and it continues right now,” as IJR reported on.
Former President Donald Trump roasted Biden during the debate, saying, “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
Watch the video below:
Sources told reporters about an hour into the debate that Biden had a cold.
As of June 27, Trump held a very slight lead over Biden in the national poll average by FiveThirtyEight.
