Biden's shaky TV debate sparks calls to quit race

Panicking Democrats were last night speculating over whether Joe Biden should be replaced as their US presidential nominee, as whispers about his age and fitness burst into open debate.

- David Smith

Biden’s shaky, raspy-voiced performance against Donald Trump at the first presidential debate in Atlanta was widely panned as a disaster that, instead of assuaging fears about his mental acuity, amplified them on the biggest political stage.

Even before the torturous 90 minutes were over, senior Democratic figures and donors were calling or texting in despair and exploring the potential to draft a late alternative to Biden at August’s Democratic national convention , although elected officials remained publicly loyal to the president.

“Every Democrat I know is texting that this is bad,” Ravi Gupta, a former Barack Obama campaign aide, tweeted. “Just say it publicly and begin the hard work of creating space in the convention for a selection process. I’ll vote for a corpse over Trump, but this is a suicide mission.”

Yesterday Biden appeared at a campaign rally in North Carolina where he gave a much more spirited performance, landing his lines with greater force than the previous night and attacking his opponent with vigour. “Did you see Trump last night? It’s sincerely a new record for the most lies told in a single debate,” Biden told an enthusiastic crowd that kept breaking into chants of “Four more years”.

He challenged Trump on his lies about the economy, the pandemic and the 6 January insurrection, called Trump a “one-man crime wave” and added: “The thing that bothers me most about him is that he has no respect for women or the law".

But observers were left wondering where yesterday's energetic Biden was the night before, after the president had spent nearly a week at the Camp David presidential retreat preparing for the debate. He even sold cans of water labelled "Dark Brandon's Secret Sauce" on his campaign website, mocking suggestions from Trump and his advisers that he would use drugs to enhance his performance.