America Stuck: Trump Continues Lying, Biden Shocks

Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder

WASHINGTON, DC (IANS/REUTERS) – President Joe Biden said he did well at the Thursday debate with former President Donald Trump and dismissed the likelihood of him stepping aside, as being demanded by some Democrats disappointed by his performance, telling supporters: “Let’s keep going.”

Asked about calls for him to quit and if he had any concerns, he said: “No. It’s hard to debate a liar. The New York Times pointed out he (Trump) lied 26 times.” But Biden did acknowledge he was not well and had a sore throat.

Viewers learned little new about where both candidates stood on the main issues, but arguably that is not why many tuned in.

The leading question going into the debate was how the two men, both of whom have faced questions about their fitness for the job, would handle themselves on stage.

The early going favored Trump, 78, who appeared forceful and energetic when compared to the 81-year-old Biden, who spoke in a hoarse, halting voice and offered sometimes meandering replies or trailed off during his answers to several questions.

For his part, Biden found better footing later as he began to defend his record and tear into Trump’s character. But the images that millions of viewers saw and heard, especially during the debate’s opening minutes, will likely become fodder for Republican attack ads to fuel the narrative that Biden is too old to hold office.

As the debate progressed, Biden appeared more in command of the facts, in the face of a stream of falsehoods from Trump, but that may not have been enough to overcome concerns among Democrats over his unsteady delivery.

He looked his age (81), and perhaps older, fumbled for words, seemed confused at points, and lost the train of his thoughts. They are calling for him to step aside. The names doing the rounds as his replacement were Vice-President Kamala Harris, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Maryland Governor Wes Moore.

“There is a sense of shock at how he came out at the beginning of this debate. How his voice sounded. He seemed a little disoriented. … There are going to be discussions about whether he should continue,” David Axelrod, a top adviser to former President Barack Obama, said of Biden’s performance on CNN.

David Plouffe, another adviser to Obama, called Biden’s debate performance a “DEFCON 1 moment”, which is the most severe level of alert for military readiness used by the US military.

But Plouffe has called for patience for three to four days to assess how exactly voters reacted. He thinks Trump may have had an even worse night because his bid for swing voters “bombed as well”.

Plouffe ran Obama’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns and has intimate experience of presidential debates.

Replacing Biden will be difficult if not impossible. The Democratic party’s rules regarding presidential conventions rule that the delegates coming up through the primaries are bound to their respective candidates. The party could, however, hold a convention before the August 19 convention and change the rules.