By Léonie Chao-Fong/Martin Belam/Helen Sullivan/Chris Stein and Maanvi Singh - Fri 28 Jun 2024 14.20 BST

Possible contenders to replace president as Democratic nominee rally around him after disappointing performance

Calls for Biden to stand aside as surrogates double down in support

Possible contenders to replace Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee have doubled down on supporting him after a night in which there have been calls for the president to step aside from the 2024 election after a disappointing performance in the first TV debate of the campaign.

Democratic senator Claire McCaskill said on MSNBC that she was not sure “if things can be done to fix this” after Biden appeared to have been bested by Donald Trump, who despite making numerous false claims nevertheless appeared to be the more coherent of the elderly perspective candidates.

Trump - Biden Debate 27 June 2024 (video)

Biden’s voice at times sounded raspy, and at times he did not make sense, blurting out “We finally beat Medicare” at one point. Trump regularly answered straightforward questions – about the economy, or abortion, or the opioid crisis – with non sequiturs, but after the debate it was Democratic commentators who seemed most concerned about the potential impact on voters.

Maria Shriver, the former first lady of California, said she loves Biden, but that the evening was “heartbreaking in many ways” and that there was “panic in the Democratic party”. David Plouffe, a Democratic strategist and former Obama campaign official, called the debate “kind of a Defcon 1 moment”.

There is no easy process in place to replace Joe Biden at this late stage of the process, with him having triumphed mostly unopposed during the primaries and all set to be confirmed as the nominee at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.

The only significant change would be if he were to voluntarily step aside, or even step down from the presidency.

Possible alternative names being touted include vice-president Kamala Harris, and California governor Gavin Newsom. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois governor J B Pritzker and veteran Ohio senator Sherrod Brown have also been mooted.

But at least on the night of the debate Harris and Newsom seemed foursquare behind the beleaguered president. Harris conceded Biden made “a slow start”, saying “That’s obvious to everyone. I’m not going to debate that point.”

However she went on to tell CNN that “people can debate on style points but ultimately this election and who is the president of the US has to be about substance and the contrast is clear. Donald Trump lied over and over and over again as he is want to do. He would not disavow what happened on January 6. He would not give a clear answer on whether he would stand by the election results.”

Newsom said talk of changing nominee was “nonsensical speculation”, adding “I will never turn my back on President Biden. Never turn my back on President Biden, I don’t know a Democrat in my party that would do so.”

ShareUpdated at 13.01 BST5m ago14.20 BST

Biden still plans to take part in second debate - report

Joe Biden still plans to participate in a second presidential debate in September, CNN is reporting, citing an adviser.

The adviser acknowledged that the president’s performance on Thursday was “lackluster” but said the campaign is committed to highlighting the moments it believes worked for their candidate — and then moving on, the outlet states.

Share9m ago14.15 BST

Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman has told fellow Democrats to “chill the fuck out” following reports that the party reacted with panic and dismay after Joe Biden’s dismal performance on the debate stage.

Fetterman, who survived his own disastrous debate ahead of the 2022, posted to X this morning:

I refuse to join the Democratic vultures on Biden’s shoulder after the debate. No one knows more than me that a rough debate is not the sum total of the person and their record.

Fetterman struggled during his Senate debate with Mehmet Oz, which took place just months after he suffered a stroke.

Share22m ago14.03 BST

Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader, has said Joe Biden should not step aside after last night’s debate.

From Fox News’ Tyler Olson:

Share36m ago13.49 BST

Joe Biden’s debate performance was a “nightmare” for his Democratic party, the Hill’s Amie Parnes wrote, citing one Biden ally who said: “I am watching us lose this election in slow motion.”

Thursday night’s performance sent shudders of anxiety through Democrats who fear a Biden loss could take down other candidates, the Hill’s morning newsletter writes. One House Democrat from a swing state told the outlet:

Biden’s team needs to convince him to withdraw and have an open convention.

Should Biden decide not to go for reelection in November after all, the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which takes place 19-22 August, would have to nominate somebody else.

Here’s how Biden could be replaced, and who could replace him.

Share1h ago13.27 BST

Joe Biden “started off poorly and he ended poorly,” Punchbowl News writes in its newsletter this morning, noting that Democrats must be “very alarmed” by the president’s debate performance.

It was bad. Biden’s answers were rambling, his voice was raspy and he committed repeated verbal flubs that will be clipped thousands of times between now and Election Day. Democrats wanted Biden to show voters that he’s capable of serving another term. Many Democrats now fear they got the exact opposite.

Donald Trump wasn’t great either, with “rambling, wildly unfocused” answers that were filled with falsehoods. But “the problem was that Biden was often unable to exploit Trump’s false statements or distortions.”

Tthe reality is this: No matter what Democrats say on the record today, they’re privately alarmed and many will want Biden out. They’re worried he will drag them down with him on Nov. 5.

Share1h ago13.16 BSTAlaina Demopoulos

Winning a presidential debate is one thing, but coming out victorious in the meme wars is something else.

Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump understand how important it is to go viral. According to NBC News, Biden’s campaign headquarters enlisted 18 influencers with a combined following of 8 million to post about the event, amounting to a “post-debate social media clip sharing battle”.

Though Biden’s voice grew stronger as the debate went on – a low bar, considering how weak he sounded at the start – it was impossible for viewers to ignore, especially as concerns about his age are a constant source of stress for Democrats this election.

“I’ve watched a lot of Biden talks. I’ve never heard him sound this frail,” Vox correspondent Zack Beauchamp wrote on X. “Someone has to pull a fire alarm and help Biden out here,” writer Bhaskar Sunkara added, referencing Jamaal Bowman’s infamous congressional incident.

X users wondered: did the president need a cough drop? An energy drink – maybe Panera’s infamous charged lemonade? What about the “secret sauce” he posted a photo holding shortly before the debate, a canned water containing, according to the label, “zero malarky”? (Actual cans later hit the Biden campaign’s official store, costing $4.60 each.)

On social media, people were obsessed with performance-enhancing drugs – and how it appeared that Biden needed to take some. “The Adderall shortage is tearing this country apart and it has finally hit Biden,” read one tweet. “They accidentally injected Biden with ketamine instead of adrenaline,” another wrote. Some fantasized about feeding Biden Adderall through the TV screen.

Share2h ago12.52 BST

Calls for Biden to stand aside as surrogates double down in support

Possible contenders to replace Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee have doubled down on supporting him after a night in which there have been calls for the president to step aside from the 2024 election after a disappointing performance in the first TV debate of the campaign.

Democratic senator Claire McCaskill said on MSNBC that she was not sure “if things can be done to fix this” after Biden appeared to have been bested by Donald Trump, who despite making numerous false claims nevertheless appeared to be the more coherent of the elderly perspective candidates.

Biden’s voice at times sounded raspy, and at times he did not make sense, blurting out “We finally beat Medicare” at one point. Trump regularly answered straightforward questions – about the economy, or abortion, or the opioid crisis – with non sequiturs, but after the debate it was Democratic commentators who seemed most concerned about the potential impact on voters.

Maria Shriver, the former first lady of California, said she loves Biden, but that the evening was “heartbreaking in many ways” and that there was “panic in the Democratic party”. David Plouffe, a Democratic strategist and former Obama campaign official, called the debate “kind of a Defcon 1 moment”.

There is no easy process in place to replace Joe Biden at this late stage of the process, with him having triumphed mostly unopposed during the primaries and all set to be confirmed as the nominee at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.

The only significant change would be if he were to voluntarily step aside, or even step down from the presidency.

Possible alternative names being touted include vice-president Kamala Harris, and California governor Gavin Newsom. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois governor J B Pritzker and veteran Ohio senator Sherrod Brown have also been mooted.

But at least on the night of the debate Harris and Newsom seemed foursquare behind the beleaguered president. Harris conceded Biden made “a slow start”, saying “That’s obvious to everyone. I’m not going to debate that point.”

However she went on to tell CNN that “people can debate on style points but ultimately this election and who is the president of the US has to be about substance and the contrast is clear. Donald Trump lied over and over and over again as he is want to do. He would not disavow what happened on January 6. He would not give a clear answer on whether he would stand by the election results.”

Newsom said talk of changing nominee was “nonsensical speculation”, adding “I will never turn my back on President Biden. Never turn my back on President Biden, I don’t know a Democrat in my party that would do so.”

ShareUpdated at 13.01 BST2h ago12.25 BST

Incidentally Joe Biden is due to be campaigning later today in North Carolina. Vice-president Kamala Harris is expected to be in Nevada.

Share2h ago11.59 BST

Journalist Jake Sherman has posted to social media claiming to have had a lot of post-debate conversations with congressional Democrats. He writes:

Their sense isn’t that this was a bad debate. It is much worse than that. In their view, Biden didn’t even clear the lowest bar. They may agree with him on policy. But Biden wasn’t even able to articulate what his policies are. For Democrats running down ballot, this is an incredibly serious problem.

Share3h ago11.37 BST

Writing for MSNBC, Hayes Brown states that Biden has less than three months to turn this performance around, but does not think it is a completely hopeless case. He writes:

It’s clear that Biden’s energy and capability is still there, as he warmed up throughout the night. He even seemed like an entirely different person in an appearance at an Atlanta watch party that MSNBC aired after the debate ended. The question is how to make sure that version of Biden is on full display throughout the remainder of the campaign, countering the image that may unfortunately be locked into many voters’ minds now.

The answer may rest with reminding Americans that no matter what concerns they might have had about Biden’s performance tonight, there was nothing that Trump did that made it seem like he is the better choice to return to the White House.

Share3h ago11.20 BST

One of the odder bits of factchecking last night, via Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post, is whether Joe Biden was being misleading to claim that Donald Trump had said people should inject bleach into their arms during the Covid pnademic. How did we get here? Anyway, to clear up the confusion, Kessler provides the full quote from Trump on 23 April 2020:

I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning, because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it’d be interesting to check that, so that you’re going to have to use medical doctors with, but it sounds interesting to me.

His verdict is that this does not appear to be Trump suggesting people should inject bleach, and that Biden was being misleading.

At the time, asked to clarify his comments the next day, the then-president insisted he had been “asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen.”

Guardian US columnist Rebecca Solnit has also delivered her verdict, saying the American people were the true losers last night:

Debates exist so that people can hear from the candidates, which makes sense when they’re relative unknowns. We’ve heard plenty from both of them for 40 years or so, since Biden was a young congressman and Trump was a young attention-seeker in New York City’s nightclubs and tabloids, and both of them have had the most high-profile job on earth for four years.

We didn’t need this debate. Because 2024 is not like previous election years, and the reasons it’s not are both that each candidate has had plenty of time to show us who they are and because one of them is a criminal seeking to destroy democracy and human rights along with the climate, the economy and international alliances. If you are too young to remember 2017-2021, this would not help you figure that out.

Much has been said about the age of the candidates, but maybe it’s the corporate media whose senility is most dangerous to us. Their insistence on proceeding as though things are pretty much what they’ve always been, on normalizing the appalling and outrageous, on using false equivalencies and bothsiderism to make themselves look fair and reasonable, on turning politics into horseraces and personality contests, is aiding the destruction of the United States.

Read more from Rebecca Solnit here: The true losers of this presidential debate were the American people

© 2024 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. (dcr)

Guardian US columnist Rebecca Solnit

Editor Notes.

Many individuals who worked in the Obama administration have taken up roles in Joe Biden's administration, ensuring continuity and leveraging their experience. Here are some key figures:

1. Ron Klain: Chief of Staff to President Biden, previously served as Chief of Staff to Vice President Biden during the Obama administration.
2. Antony Blinken: Secretary of State, served as Deputy Secretary of State and Deputy National Security Advisor under Obama.
3. Jake Sullivan: National Security Advisor, previously served as Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor to Vice President Biden under Obama.
4. Jen Psaki: Served as White House Press Secretary until May 2022, previously held multiple roles including White House Communications Director and State Department spokesperson during the Obama administration.
5. Susan Rice: Domestic Policy Advisor, was the National Security Advisor and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under Obama.
6. John Kerry: Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, served as Secretary of State during Obama's second term.