Democrat donor condemns Biden’s debate as ‘worst ever efficiency’

Joe Biden‘s catastrophic showing in last night’s presidential debate with Donald Trump has been labelled by Democrat donors as ‘the worst performance in history’.

The torturous 90-minute debate saw the president frequently lose his train of thought, trail off mid-sentence and mix up topics, prompting a cacophony of calls from politicians and pundits on both sides of the aisle for the 81-year-old to step down. 

One donor told POLITICO that his showing was ‘so bad that no one will pay attention to Trump’s lies,’ and that ‘Biden needs to drop out. No question about it.’

A senior Democrat strategist said: ‘Biden is about to face a crescendo of calls to step aside. Parties exist to win – this man on the stage with Trump cannot win,’ in a damning interview with the New York Times.

And former Republican campaign strategist-turned-Democrat Steve Schmidt said: ‘Biden lost the country tonight, and will not get it back. If Trump is a threat and democracy is on the line, then Biden must step aside.’

During the debate, Trump was seen contorting his face in shock and derision at Biden’s confused meandering and frequent gaffes in the debate, at one point telling millions of Americans watching at home: ‘I really don’t know what he [Biden] just said.

‘He’s not equipped to be president. You know it and I know it.’

As the debate concluded, shocking footage emerged from behind the scenes showing how Biden could barely exit the stage, clasping his wife Jill’s hand as he trundled gingerly down a set of small steps. 

Jill later congratulated him in a cringeworthy scene reminiscent of a mother babying their young child.  

‘You answered every question right, Joe – you did such a great job answering every question. You knew all the facts!’ she said in an almost condescending tone. 

Evidently feeling peckish after having expended his limited mental energy on the stand, the president then stopped off at the fast-food joint for a bite to eat with Jill but was confronted by patrons over his sorry showing. 

In the aftermath of the debate, Biden’s campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt declared early this morning: ‘Of course he’s not dropping out.’

But a torrent of his own party members and strategists are clamoring for their aged president to throw in the towel, with one anonymous Democrat telling NBC it was ‘time to talk about an open convention and a new Democratic nominee’. 

Another Democrat put it even more flatly to the Washington Post.

‘We’re so f***ed,’ they said. ‘He has great material. He just cannot deliver a single line.’ 

David Plouffe – a Democratic strategist who worked on Barack Obama‘s 2008 campaign – told MSNBC’ Biden’s showing was ‘kind of a DEFCON1 moment’ – a reference to the highest alert level used by America’s defence community. 

Plouffe also remarked that Trump and Biden looked ’30 years apart’, despite an age gap of just three years between them.

One political analyst summed it up in the hours following the torturous 90-minute ordeal: ‘There’s going to be a lot of bedwetting (among Democrats) tonight.’

As Biden picked up a drink at a Waffle House in Atlanta late last night alongside Jill, one customer asked: ‘Some are concerned that you’re not fit for the job… do you have any concerns about your performance?’

The President bit back: ‘Well… it’s hard to debate a liar,’ claiming his Republican opponent trotted out a string of untruths and declaring that he believed he had performed ‘well’. 

But he was powerless to distract from the reality of his performance – something Trump’s team has gleefully made light of, compiling all of Biden’s mumbling and bumbling in a video entitled: ‘Needless to say, the drugs didn’t work’.   

The Democrat was combative and did not shy away from trading barbs with Trump, but as the debate went on it became painfully clear that he simply did not have the capacity to contend with his confident and smooth-talking Republican rival. 

Biden sounded tired and hoarse, frequently stumbled over his words and on one occasion completely lost his train of thought and trailed off into silence, prompting moderator Jake Tapper to dive in and rescue him. 

One senior Democratic strategist told Reuters after the debate that it would be unprecedented for an incumbent to pull out this late in the election cycle, but that there would be calls for Biden to do just that as Democrats fretted over the stark display of the president’s failing faculties. 

‘I think the panic has set in,’ David Axelrod, a longtime advisor to former US president Barack Obama, said on CNN after the debate about Biden’s performance.

‘And I think you’re going to hear discussions that, I don’t know will lead to anything, but there are going to be discussions about whether he should continue.’

Another longtime strategist told NBC: ‘The chatter of replacement is absolutely going to explode. There is no coming back from this disaster.’ 

Former special presidential adviser-turned CNN commentator Van Jones said that even though he ‘loved’ Joe Biden, his debate performance was ‘painful‘.

‘There are people who are going to want to see him consider taking a different course now,’ Jones said. 

‘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 but that was not what we needed from Joe Biden.

‘He had a test tonight to restore the confidence of the country, of the base and he failed.’ 

Those comments were echoed by former Democrat senator Claire McCaskill who told MSNBC: ‘My job right now is to be really honest. Joe Biden had one thing he had to do tonight. And he didn’t do it. 

‘He had one thing he had to accomplish. And that was reassure America that he was up to the job at his age. And he failed at that tonight.’ 

‘There’s no question this was not what the Biden campaign wanted or needed,’ said ABC’s Mary Bruce. 

After the debate, CNN’s John King pointed to his cell phone, saying he hadn’t seen anything like the concern expressed to him in text messages as the debate went on.

‘There’s a full-on panic about this performance,’ said NBC’s Chuck Todd.

After spending much of her tenure defending him, even Vice President Kamala Harris was forced to admit Biden had ‘a slow start’ in an interview with pro-Democrat CNN‘s Anderson Cooper, who declared the president had ‘disappointed’ his supporters. 

Cooper noted that Biden’s debate performance last night was visibly less convincing than when Harris herself debated him in the Democrat presidential primary back in 2020.

‘He was a very different person on the stage four years ago when you debated him, that’s certainly true is it not?’ Cooper asked pointedly, noting it was ‘scary’ for Democrats who were watching to see their president melt on national television. 

But Harris sought to turn attention away from the debate and refused to be pulled into a conversation over the evident decline in Biden’s mental capacity, ignoring repeated questions from Cooper that focused on the president’s performance at the lectern. 

‘Listen, people can debate on style points, but ultimately this election and who is the president of the United States has to be about substance,’ Harris said.

‘I got the point that you’re making about a one and a half hour debate tonight. I’m talking about three and a half years of performance and work that has been historic,’ she concluded.

‘You can’t honestly say… can you say that you are not concerned at all having watched the president’s performance tonight?’ Cooper asked. 

It was a slow start, that’s obvious to everyone,’ Harris repeated. ‘I’m not going to debate that point. I’m talking about the choice in November.’

Harris also appeared on MSNBC to beat back the idea that Biden performed badly during the debate, and trotted out the same defence. 

‘Well it was a slow start, there’s no question about that, but I felt it was a strong finish,’ she said during an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, before speaking with ABC.

Harris said she spent a lot of time with Joe Biden behind the scenes and insisted his supporters should judge him on the successes of his administration rather than his debating prowess.

‘That’s the Joe Biden I see every day. And I would urge folks to look at the record and look at the record of accomplishment,’ she said. 

But Harris’ seemingly impromptu media tour sparked speculation that the Biden campaign was deeply concerned about the fallout of the debate. 

‘You don’t send the Vice President of the United States out if you won the debate, typically,’ former White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on MSNBC as the political panel laughed.  

Biden’s supporters consistently express worry about the president’s age and mental capacity and he did absolutely nothing to reassure them. 

One of the most shocking mishaps occurred just minutes into the debate when he lost his train of thought while making his case on tax rates and the number of billionaires in America.

The president embarked on a meandering ramble before trailing off and silently looking down at his lectern. After a pause of several seconds, he looked up and mumbled: ‘We finally beat Medicare.’

At other times, Biden made some puzzling non sequiturs that seemed to undercut what the campaign has pushed as his strong points, including the economy and abortion rights. 

As Biden critiqued Trump’s economic record, the president suddenly pivoted to Afghanistan and how Trump ‘didn’t do anything about that’ – although the botched withdrawal of Afghanistan is widely considered one of the lowest points of Biden’s presidency.

Later, as Biden singled out state restrictions on abortion, he confusingly pivoted to immigration and referred to a ‘young woman who was just murdered’ by an immigrant. It was unclear what point he was trying to make.

Trump has been reluctant to make light of Biden’s age given that they were born only three years apart. 

He largely remained silent as Biden delivered his gaffes and allowed the Democrat to dig his own grave – but on a couple of occasions couldn’t help but highlight his adversary’s issues.

‘I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence,’ he said at one point when Biden delivered a word salad about the border. 

‘I don’t think he knows what he said either.’ 

Trump cruised through much of the debate, but stumbled at a few key points, including the question of how he would reassure voters that he would respect his oath of office after the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Trump tried to avoid addressing the issue, defending the people who stormed the Capitol and blaming Biden for prosecuting them. 

‘What they’ve done to some people who are so innocent, you ought to be ashamed of yourself,’ Trump told Biden.

Trump warned that the members of the congressional committee that investigated Jan. 6 could face criminal charges, as could Biden himself.

Biden shot back: ‘The only person on this stage who’s a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at.’

Biden then brought Trump’s recent criminal trial in New York over hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels – charges on which he was convicted.

‘I didn’t have sex with a porn star,’ Trump retorted flatly.

Biden also scored points off the Republican candidate when he attacked the former President for reportedly calling dead soldiers ‘losers’ and ‘suckers’ when he skipped a planned visit to a World War One cemetery in France. 

Referring to his late son Beau who was an army veteran, Biden declared: ‘My son was not a loser, was not a sucker. You’re the sucker. You’re the loser.’ 

The 10 key flashpoints from US presidential debate: How Biden’s farcical debate descended into chaos

By ARTHUR PARASHAR

Joe Biden and Donald Trump last night clashed during a chaotic first debate of the 2024 US election campaign.

President Biden repeatedly stumbled over his words and could clearly be seen losing his train of thought, with Trump declaring at one stage: ‘I don’t know what he just said.’

But former president Trump also failed to land major blows in a performance littered with false claims.

At times the debate descended into chaos as the pair traded blows about their golfing ability.

Here, MailOnline looks at the key moments from last night’s CNN event in Atlanta which has sent the Democrats into an ‘aggressive’ panic.

1. Stumbling over words 

Biden’s worst moment was a rambling answer about the national debt, where he repeatedly stumbled over his words before stopping altogether. 

He confused millions and billions twice, mixed up a 24 and 25 per cent  rate of tax before losing his train of thought and desperately staring down at his notes.

‘We beat Medicare,’ he eventually said before the CNN moderator stepped in to say: ‘Thank you President Biden.’

Trump took advantage of his fumbling opponent, telling voters: ‘He did beat Medicare. He beat it to death.’

2. Trump: ‘I did not have sex with a pornstar.’

There was no surprise that Biden brought up Trump’s criminal conviction – but it was a shock how hard he went in on it.

‘The only person in this stage is a convicted felon as the man I’m looking at right now,’ Biden said.

Trump hit back by noting Biden’s son Hunter was convicted of three felonies related to a 2018 gun purchase.

‘We’re going to make this country successful again, because right now it’s a failing nation. My retribution is going to be success. But when he talks about a convicted felon, his son is a convicted felon. At a very high level. His son is convicted,’ Trump said.

‘We’d have a system that was rigged and disgusting. I did nothing wrong,’ he said..

Biden then brought up his reported affair with the low blow that it allegedly happened when Melania Trump was pregnant with Barron.

‘The crimes you are still charged with and think of all the civil penalties you have – how many billions of dollars in civil penalties for molesting a woman of public, for doing a whole range of things, of having sex with a porn star on the night while your wife is pregnant?,’ he said, adding: ‘You have the morals of an alley cat.’

‘I didn’t have sex with a porn star number one,’ Trump responded. ‘Number two, that was a case that was started and moved. They moved a high ranking official at DOJ into the Manhattan DA ‘s office to start that case. That case is going to be appealed and one we had a very terrible judge.

3. Biden: ‘You are a child’

During a 90-minute debate which covered all things from immigration to the economy, somehow the two candidates started bickering about their golfing ability.

Trump and Biden were both asked about concerns about their ages. Biden is 81 and Trump is 78, giving them a combined age of 159.

Trump bragged about winning two golf tournaments recently, ‘and not even senior, two regular club championships.’ He said the feat requires a golfer to be ‘quite smart’ and able to hit the ball a long way.

Biden said he’d happily take on Trump in a driving contest, bragging he got his handicap ‘down to a six’ when he was vice president.

‘I’m happy to play golf with you if you carry your own bag,’ Biden said to Trump. ‘Think you can do it?’

The Republican candidate said Biden ‘can’t hit a ball 50 yards’, but the Democrat hit back saying he had a handicap of six while he was vice president.

Trump said Biden’s handicap claim was the ‘biggest lie’, prompting the pair to start clashing with one another again.

 ‘Let’s not act like children,’ Trump said eventually. ‘You are a child,’ Mr Biden hit back.

Long after the debate was over, golf was still on Trump’s mind. He posted a video of himself hitting a long drive. 

4. Trump: ‘I really don’t know what he just said.’

On a night in which President Biden repeatedly stumbled over his words, Trump landed a bitter blow by calling his rival out on it.

Another serious fumble came when he talking about the number of billionaires in America and the situation on the border.

Trump repeatedly managed to hit back hard at the 81-year-old on the repeated fumbles.

‘I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either,’ the former president said at one point.

5. Suckers and losers

The two political rivals clashed again when discussing the US military.

Biden furiously attacked Trump for allgedly referring to members of the military as ‘losers’ and ‘suckers’.

‘My son was not a loser, was not a sucker. You’re the sucker you’re the loser,’ Biden said.

‘They made it up,’ Trump replied. ‘We had 19 people that said I didn’t say it.’

He then demanded an apology from Biden.

‘He made up the suckers and losers so he should apologise to be right now.’

But Biden hit back himself, declaring: ‘The idea I have to apologise to you for anything.’

‘We think the Democrats are the radicals, not the Republicans,’ Trump said.

6. No handshake

President Biden and Trump did not shake hands where they entered the debate stage for what was the first presidential debate in four years. Biden arrived first and then Trump. They simply stood at their podiums, starting straight ahead.

The men also failed to shake hands at the last debate four years ago – but that was due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sources suggested that Biden was battling with a cold in the days before last night’s debate – but had tested negative for Covid. 

The debate opened with Biden being asked:  ‘What do you say to voters who feel they are worse off under your presidency than they were under President Trump?’

With a hoarse voice, he answered by describing the American economy as ‘in freefall’ 

7. ‘Biden migrant crime’

Donald Trump said Biden had failed to secure the southern US border, leading to an influx of scores of criminals.

‘I call it Biden migrant crime,’ he said.

But Biden hit back, saying:  ‘Once again, he’s exaggerating, he’s lying.’

Trump, referring to Biden, said: ‘He’s the one that killed people with a bad border and flooding hundreds of thousands of people dying and also killing our citizens when they come in.’ 

A mass influx of migrants coming into the U.S. illegally across the southern border has led to a number of false and misleading claims by Trump. 

For example, he regularly claims other countries are emptying their prisons and mental institutions to send to the U.S. There is no evidence to support that.

Trump has also argued the influx of immigrants is causing a crime surge in the U.S., although statistics actually show violent crime is on the way down.

There have been recent high-profile and heinous crimes allegedly committed by people in the country illegally. 

But FBI statistics do not separate out crimes by the immigration status of the assailant, nor is there any evidence of a spike in crime perpetrated by migrants, either along the U.S.-Mexico border or in cities seeing the greatest influx of migrants, like New York.

8. Clashing over who’s extreme on abortion

Biden blamed Trump for eroding abortion rights after the Republican’s three nominees to the Supreme Court voted to reverse Roe v. Wade, which had recognised a nationwide constitutional right to abortion. 

The reversal has energised many voters who support abortion rights and it helped power Democratic victories in the 2022 midterms and special elections.

‘It’s been a terrible thing what you’ve done,’ Biden said, turning to his rival. He pledged to restore the law under Roe if given a second term but didn’t say how he’d accomplish that. 

He said the idea of turning abortion laws back to states ‘is like saying we’re going to turn civil rights back to the states.’

Trump said his presidency returned the issue of abortion to the people through state laws. 

He said he supports abortion ban exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother, and he repeated his false claim that Biden supports abortion up to and after birth.

‘We think the Democrats are the radicals, not the Republicans,’ Trump said.

Trump said Democrats support abortion until birth and that ‘everybody’ wanted to overturn Roe v Wade. But less than one per cent of abortions in the US are performed at or past 21 weeks and Roe remained popularly throughout the half-century it was in effect.

9. Bickering over age 

More than 80 minutes into the debate, Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, were asked about their age and ability to serve well into their 80s.

Biden spotlighted a litany of policy achievements and said Trump is ‘three years younger and a lot less competent.’ Biden also used the answer to slap at Trump for bad-mouthing the United States.

‘The idea that we are some kind of failing country? I’ve never heard a president talk like that before,’ Biden said.

In his retort, Trump said he was in as good a shape as he was 25 years ago and perhaps ‘even a little bit lighter.’ He said he’s ‘aced’ cognitive tests and called on Biden to take one.

Though the men are not far apart in age, more voters worry that Biden is too old.

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say they are ‘very concerned’ that Biden is too old to be president, according to Gallup data collected in June. Only 18% had the same level of concern about Trump.

10. January 6 riots 

Trump lied about his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol, and tried to deflect by pivoting to other issues.

Pressed on his role, he said he encouraged people to act ‘peacefully and patriotically,’ then changed the subject to launch an attack on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

He said Biden ought to ‘be ashamed’ for the way the Jan. 6 defendants have been handled.

Trump, who has floated the idea of pardons for the rioters, suggested his supporters who stormed the Capitol were actually peaceful and are now being politically persecuted.

In fact, the rioters engaged in hand-to-hand combat with police and used makeshift weapons to attack officers. More than 1,400 people have been charged with federal offenses stemming from the riot, and more than 1,000 of them have pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial.

‘The only person who’s on this stage that’s a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at right now,’ Biden said of his rival.