Democrats had an evening of soul searching June 27 after President Joe Biden’s erratic performance on the debate stage, which contrasted wildly with a confident delivery by former President Donald Trump.
Biden grasped for words, sometimes losing his thought midstream during a sentence. He often trailed off incongruously, failing to fend off baseless attacks and falsehoods by Trump, who took the offensive early on and kept it throughout the 90-minute match-up hosted by CNN in Atlanta, Georgia. No audience was allowed at the event, moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
In an extremely rare occurrence, White House pool reporters were banned from the event. And the National Newspaper Publishers Association, a leading voice for Black-owned media, noted that not one of the 600 media credentials issued was given to a Black news outlet, sparking cries of racism.
Anti-Immigrant Rant
Biden failed phenomenally during closing statements, as he struggled to voice the many gains his administration has made, including lowering the federal debt, cutting drug prices, significant action on climate change, and creating 15 million new jobs, including more than 800,000 new manufacturing jobs, with his $454 billion infrastructure bill.
Trump largely kept to a rant on immigrants, noting that people from “prisons, jails, and mental institutions” were coming over and “stealing jobs” from Black and Latino workers and “killing thousands of Americans” by sneaking fentanyl across the border. He claimed he had handed Biden “one of the best economies in the world,” only to see it “fail miserably” in the President’s hands.
Biden failed to drive home his opponent’s status as a convicted felon, mentioning it only once. Trump took aim at the President’s son, Hunter Biden, who was convicted of illegally possessing a handgun, and falsely claimed that Joe Biden himself could be charged with felonies once he leaves office.
‘No Respect’
The former president twice evaded the question of whether he would accept the results of the election, once saying: “I wish he were a great president. I wouldn’t have to be here. But we’re a failing nation. He’s going to drive us into World War Three.”
Russia’s president Vladimir Putin would never have invaded Ukraine under his watch, claimed Trump. And the Israel-Hamas war would have long been over, he added. “Putin, (North Korea’s) Kim Jong Un, and Xi Jinping (China’s President) have no respect for him,” he said.
Trump also evaded a question about his oft-stated plan to enact “the largest deportation ever.”
Unfathomably, the most lucid moment of the evening occurred when the two candidates discussed their golf handicaps, amid a question on the opioid crisis.
‘Awful Debate’
Shekar Narasimhan, who co-founded the AAPI Victory Fund with Dr. Tung Nguyen, tweeted: “Awful debate. Painful to watch. If folks started as ‘Biden is too old,’ it got reinforced. And if folks started as ‘Trump is unfit to be President,’ it got reinforced.”
The AAPI Victory Fund supports Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander candidates for elected office at all levels of government.
Asked by Ethnic Media Services if the Democratic Party needs to drop Biden as its nominee before the Democratic National Convention, Narasimhan said he would not comment on that question. He did say: “Biden needs a better debate prep team. The party needs to move immediately to remind people how terrible Trump was and is.”
Narasimhan said he did not fear an impact to Democratic candidates in down-ballot races.
Social media exploded with comments from Democrats regarding Biden’s performance. “Guys, the Dems should nominate someone else – before it’s too late,” wrote former Presidential contender Andrew Yang on X/Twitter, using a newly-created hash tag #swapjoeout. “What’s Joe Biden’s superpower? That he’s a good guy who will do the right thing for the country. In this case, that’s stepping aside and letting the DNC choose another nominee,” he added.
“I wish Biden would reflect on this debate performance and then announce his decision to withdraw from the race, throwing the choice of Democratic nominee to the convention,” New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote on X/Twitter.
“Someone like @gretchenwhitmer or @SherrodBrown or @SecRaimondo could still jump in and beat Trump,” he added, referring to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, and Biden’s Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
California’s former first lady Maria Shriver wrote: “I love Joe Biden. I know he’s a good man. Tonight was heartbreaking in many ways. This is a big political moment. There’s panic in the Democratic party. It’s going to be a long night.”
