New Delhi: US President Joe Biden has been slammed by political commentators on both sides of the political spectrum for his “abysmal” performance in a televised presidential debate against opponent Donald Trump Friday.
While Trump tried to falsely claim credit for various previous policy decisions and side-stepped direct questions, such as whether he would accept the results of the 2024 presidential elections, Biden’s performance has created panic among the members of the Democratic Party with questions emerging on whether the 81-year-old incumbent should withdraw his nomination for re-election.
Van Jones, special adviser to former president Barack Obama, called Biden’s performance “painful”.
Meanwhile, Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, remarked that Trump looked “vibrant, played by the rules and stuck to his time limit”, while Biden was often incoherent. “This is the worst evening of his [Biden’s] campaign and the level of pressure to find someone other than Biden to run is going to be strong,” Bremmer added.
i was skeptical from day one of biden getting on stage with trump
hate to say i told you so@gzeromedia pic.twitter.com/mtRbygjNDa
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) June 28, 2024
With the primaries concluded, there is little time left for any party to change its presidential nominee. The Democratic National Convention — where the party will officially nominate a candidate for president and vice-president — is less than two months away.
However, the Democratic National Committee does have the authority to choose a new candidate, if either the presidential or vice-presidential nominee withdraws or dies. If Biden withdraws, Vice-President Kamala Harris would not automatically be considered for the top ticket, and the committee will ultimately make the final call.
Biden’s performance in the debate was a far cry from his second State of the Union speech in March, which was viewed by analysts as “feisty” and a welcome change from his ordinary speeches.
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Abortion, immigration, withdrawal from Afghanistan
Analysts agreed that in Friday’s debate, Biden scored some points with regards to his arguments on abortion and the economy.
“The idea of states (having authority of abortion rights) is kind of like saying… ‘Let’s return civil rights back to the states’,” Biden retorted, when Trump claimed credit for inducting conservative judges in the Supreme Court, who eventually reversed the landmark Roe V. Wade judgment in June 2022.
However, Trump appeared to successfully grill the incumbent president on immigration and the withdrawal of the US from Afghanistan in mid-2022 that paved the way for Taliban’s return in the war-torn country.
“[Biden] should’ve fired every military man involved in the Afghanistan horror show. It was the most embarrassing moment in [American] history,” Trump said.
On immigration, he pinned Biden down for allowing illegal immigrants to enter America’s borders, remarking that the country is now becoming a third-world nation.
Reports that Biden had a cold have only fuelled rumours that the Democratic Party is in damage control, following his performance. Shortly after the conclusion of the debate, a source familiar with Biden’s campaign told The Hill, “He has a cold, started slow but obviously had started to hit his stride.”
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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