Minutes into Thursday night’s presidential debate, CNN commentator Van Jones called the debate “painful” and suggested Democrats should find “another path forward.”
“[President Biden] “He hasn’t done very well at all,” Jones said. “He loves his country. He’s doing the best he can, but tonight, for me, was a test to restore the confidence of his country and his base, and he didn’t do it. I think there are a lot of people who would like to see him consider choosing a different path.”
“That’s not what we wanted from Joe Biden and it’s personally painful for a lot of people. What we’ve seen tonight isn’t just panic, it’s pain,” Jones added.
Biden faced off against former President Trump in a debate hosted by CNN in Atlanta. Within 30 minutes of the debate starting, Democrats began to panic over Biden’s stumbling speech. He was occasionally rambling, appeared to have a sore throat and repeatedly lost his train of thought. Meanwhile, Trump was relatively forceful and direct, though he frequently made inaccurate claims.
“It’s like an old man versus a con man,” Jones said.
A CNN real-time poll found that 67% of viewers believed Trump won the debate, while only 33% believed Biden won. In contrast, in the 2020 debate, in which Trump repeatedly interrupted Biden and the moderator, 60% believed Biden won.
“Right now we are still a long way from the convention and the party has time to find another way. [Biden] “That will be possible,” Jones added.
The Democratic National Convention begins on August 19th.
Jones is among several Biden supporters who have suggested changing the nominee ahead of the Democratic National Convention, but as of Friday morning no Democrats had publicly called for Biden to resign. The White House and Biden campaign have maintained that Biden will not resign.
Shortly after the debate, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D), one of the Biden campaign’s most prominent surrogates, blasted the Democratic “agonism” as unnecessary and unhelpful. He added that Biden would remain the party’s nominee and would be re-elected. Newsom is seen as the leading candidate to succeed Biden.
“Biden’s not going anywhere,” said Bakari Sellers, a former South Carolina congressman and another CNN commentator. Post to social platform X“It’s June. Give up your pearl necklace and dry your bed. He lost the debate, I’m sorry, but it’s June now. You’re not taking his place.”
