Yesterday morning, I predicted the debate would be a big nothingburger, but I ended my post previewing the debate with these words:
I am always wrong when it comes to political predictions. Perhaps Biden really will implode.
I was wrong. Thank God I was wrong. Joe Biden imploded. It was a hydrogen bomb-sized explosion. The Tsar Bomba of debate performances from Joe Biden.
One problem is that the alternate reality around Biden’s age has been imposed & enforced with many of the same rhetorical tools — “misinformation,” “fringe theory,” etc. — that are used to police dissent from so many other liberal articles of faith. That will make retreat costly. https://t.co/qQySHuoT5t
— Jason Willick (@jawillick) June 28, 2024
I was very, very wrong yesterday.
Thank God. Joe Biden is done. Either soon or on November 5th.
Joe Biden called for a summer debate to remind voters of Trump’s extremism. Instead he showcased his own senility. There’s no way to be polite. This wasn’t a debate, it was a medical emergency – the president resembling an animated corpse, his voice so weak it sounded like the whisper of leaves around an ancient tomb. Never mind, will he last four years? The audience wasn’t sure he’d last 90 minutes.
I almost didn't watch the debate because it would be even less interesting than most debates. Boy, was I wrong. I was glued to the TV set from the moment that Joe Biden shuffled onto the stage until the last moment that Donald Trump made his (so-so) final pitch.
Overall Trump did extremely well. This is the candidate he should have always been. He had his less disciplined moments, but he was everything Biden was not. He was in control, appeared strong, made mostly good points, and gave nobody any reason to doubt that he is tanned, rested, and ready to get back into the Oval Office.
OMG Is this real?
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) June 28, 2024
pic.twitter.com/ofZ20xrfDo
Five seconds into Biden's appearance, I knew the debate would likely be disastrous for him. He looked awful, and it went downhill from there. All he needed to do was look alive, and he failed to do that.
He was a reanimated corpse.
I was correct that the debate was not about substance but feelings. What I was wrong about was that Biden could muster 90 minutes of appearing sentient and provide the absolute minimum necessary to reassure his own voters and Trump haters that he is a viable candidate.
Instead, Biden did the opposite. He managed to convince tens of millions of people, including almost every Democrat and MSM figure, that he is incapable of doing the job.
Democrats are not just panicked. They admit that they panicked, which is remarkable. I have never seen anything like it.
Democrats who have defended the president for months against his doubters — including members of his own administration — traded frenzied phone calls and text messages within minutes of the start of the debate as it became clear that Mr. Biden was not at his sharpest. Some took to social media to express shock at his troubles, while others privately discussed among themselves what it would mean for the party and whether it was too late to persuade the president to step aside in favor of a younger candidate.
“Biden is about to face a crescendo of calls to step aside,” said a veteran Democratic strategist who has staunchly backed Mr. Biden publicly. “Joe had a deep well of affection among Democrats. It has run dry.”
“Parties exist to win,” this Democrat continued. “The man on the stage with Trump cannot win. The fear of Trump stifled criticism of Biden. Now that same fear is going to fuel calls for him to step down.”
Ouch.
Democrats have several problems now. The first is to decide whether they will beg Biden to step down--which is quite a big ask.
Then, if they decide to make the attempt, figuring out who, how, when, and what they will offer to Biden and his wife is the next problem.
And it's not like everybody in the Democrat National Committee would agree on who to put on the ticket. It would be a feeding frenzy. The frenzy has already begun, in fact.
Democrats are so panicked over President Joe Biden’s faltering debate performance they are actively discussing what was once unspeakable: replacing him on the ticket.
Three strategists close to three potential Democratic presidential candidates and granted anonymity to speak freely said they had been bombarded with text messages throughout the debate. One adviser said they received pleas for their candidate to step forward as an alternative to Biden.
Another adviser said they had “taken no less than half a dozen key donors texting ‘disaster’ and [the] party needs to do something,” but acknowledged that “not much is possible unless” Biden steps aside.
One major Democratic donor and Biden supporter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was time for the president to end his campaign. This person described Biden’s night as “the worst performance in history” and said Biden was so “bad that no one will pay attention to Trump’s lies.”
“Biden needs to drop out. No question about it,” the donor said in a text message, proposing an alternate ticket led by the governors of Maryland and Michigan.
See what I mean? The body is still warm and the kids are fighting over the inheritance.
Amazing https://t.co/qd6sIupQNy
— Darren J. Beattie 🌐 (@DarrenJBeattie) June 28, 2024
Not only is it difficult to come up with who would be the best replacement (except Michelle Obama, who keeps saying she doesn't want to be president), but it would be difficult to get everybody who wants to be president to step aside.
CNN's Abby Phillip: "The panic that I'm hearing from Democrats is not like anything I've heard in this campaign so far." pic.twitter.com/YJqzmvgqvx
— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) June 28, 2024
No doubt Barack Obama would love to live in the White House again, but if Michelle says "No" then a feeding frenzy would be almost inevitable. Newsom, Whitmer, Buttigieg...the phone lines to donors and delegates would be red hot.
Stunning reaction from prime time anchors: Joy Reid says Biden’s job was to reassure people that he’s strong enough to do four more years. He did the opposite.
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) June 28, 2024
If you are Joe Biden, is this how you want to go out? Biden is convinced that he is a world-historic figure, and if he leaves now, he will be remembered as the failure who s**t the bed in front of 100 million people. Worse, he will have lost a debate to Donald Trump.
Tonight's utter debacle will infuriate those who believed Dems claiming that (as one panelist put it) that Biden was privately doing handstands while doing trigonometry and solving all the world's problems.
— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) June 28, 2024
And this was on NINE DAYS REST. https://t.co/EmibJjU1aa
Biden dropping out would be a West Wing-type moment, and in the real world, those moments are vanishingly rare. Everybody has known for months or longer that Biden was not fit to be in office, so functionally the only difference between today and yesterday is that it is impossible to deny except for the most ridiculous gaslighters.
Hosts on MSNBC are very skeptical about a contested convention, but they're having the conversation.
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 28, 2024
Joy Reid brought up the Dem convention math: "Someone actually sent me the rules..."
Nicolle Wallace: "The rules are circulating!" pic.twitter.com/DkbRTJeLYN
We'll have to see what Karine Jean-Pierre says tomorrow, but it sure looks like Joe Biden has lost his most loyal constituency: the mainstream media. They can cover for him if you see him in snippets, but after 90 minutes of mumbling, stumbling, and looking like a zombie, they have given up.
🚨🚨🚨 Chris Wallace on CNN just now: Joe Biden “sunk his campaign tonight.”
— Varad Mehta (@varadmehta) June 28, 2024
I am done predicting anything. We are living in abnormal times with abnormal people in charge. Democrats are in full panic right now, but that doesn't mean they have a clear path out of this mess.
WATCH: CNN panel is SHOCKED about Biden’s debate performance despite prepping 6 DAYS at Camp David:
— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) June 28, 2024
Chris Wallace: “He wasn’t capable of doing any better than he did…he was incapable tonight.” pic.twitter.com/YL8WGlXToK
But, for all you people who know that I am always wrong, take heart: I will predict that Joe Biden will win this November.
There. I just jinxed him.
The lies we were told by the administration covering for their boss.
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) June 28, 2024
Where is their loyalty to the truth and to the American people? https://t.co/5pLbym2b73
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