Biden and Trump faced off in a CNN-hosted first debate of the 2024 presidential election cycle in Atlanta late Thursday. Biden has stumbled several times on stage, and his disoriented appearance has sparked extensive criticism on social media.
"Biden looks and sounds terrible. He’s incoherent," the broadcaster quoted one of the Democrats as saying on Thursday.
One more party member said Biden's performance was "horrific," while another said: "We are f***ed," CNN reported.
Biden would have to decide to step aside if Democrats were to pick another nominee, but no serious challengers have stepped up to run against Biden so far, the report said. Some Democrats even started talking about who could replace Biden as their presidential candidate, naming former Governor of California and ex-Mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom and former Governor of Michigan Gretchen Whitmer as possible candidates, CNN reported.
If Biden were to withdraw from the presidential race, the Democratic nomination would be decided on the floor, the report said.
NBC News reported that many Democrats saw Biden's performance during the debate "as a moment for panic."
"Democrats just committed collective suicide. Biden sounds hoarse, looks tired, and is babbling. He is reaffirming everything voters already perceived. President Biden can’t win. This debate is a nail in the political coffin," the broadcaster quoted one party strategist as saying on Thursday.
The report also quoted a Democratic consultant as saying that it is "hard to argue that we shouldn’t nominate someone else."
US Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene suggested that the Democratic Party is going to replace Biden as their presidential candidate.
"They aren’t shocked about Joe Biden’s severe age related issues. They KNOW, they see him EVERY DAY. This was on purpose. The Democrats have LIED to America about Joe Biden. Now they’re going to try to replace him. NONE of the Democrats can be trusted," Greene said on X.
Democrats have discussed replacing Biden with a different nominee if he performs poorly at the debate, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh reported earlier this month, citing one of Biden’s longtime friends.