Several anti-Trump pundits appearing on ABC’s “The View” said President Biden should abandon his reelection campaign after his performance in Thursday’s debate was slammed.
Liberal daytime chat shows aired a montage of news clips from CNN’s presidential debate, which went so badly for Biden that many in the media expressed concern about his fitness to serve another term. Biden was criticized for looking and speaking too old, for repeatedly losing his train of thought, and for generally not allaying concerns about his age and mental viability.
“Most of us are saddened,” co-host Sunny Hostin, an ardent Biden supporter, told the panel.
“This has been really hard to watch and it hurts a little bit to say this today, but I think President Biden needs to step down and be replaced,” co-host Sara Haines said.
There was a somber mood on “The View” on Friday following President Biden’s poor performance in the debate.
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“If you want to beat Donald Trump in November, absolutely,” she continued, “and I think the Biden campaign foresaw that, which is why I think they pushed for earlier debates, so they have time to pivot if they need to.”
Haines called on those close to Biden to have “very tough conversations” about him needing to step down.
“Democrats need to stop whitewashing the age issue,” Haines said.
“Joy Behar, who is 81 years old, is not Joe Biden, who is 81 years old. That was made very clear last night. But let me be very clear: come November, if it’s President Biden and President Trump up against each other, I will 100% vote for President Biden because the other candidate is too scary to me. But I fear that many people in this country don’t feel the same way,” she said.
Co-moderator Alyssa Farrah Griffin, who worked in the Trump administration but has since become an outspoken critic of her former boss, said she was “shocked” by the debate.
“We’ve had concerns about Biden’s age for several years, and his performance has been much worse than we expected,” Griffin said.
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President Joe Biden speaks during the first presidential debate for the 2024 election with former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the CNN studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024. (Andrew Caballero Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
“He needs to put the country above his own ambitions, step aside and pass the baton,” Griffin added. “If it’s Trump versus Biden, Trump is the man. [win]”
Hostin acknowledged that Biden “lost the debate.”
“Maybe he needs to resign,” she said, echoing what several Biden allies in the media have said.
“Maybe he needs to be honest with himself and with the American people,” she continued. “He can now step down with grace and dignity. He has a record of which he is proud.”
While Hostin and Griffin called on Biden to step down, they said they still loathe Trump, calling him a “racist” and a threat to democracy. Hostin believes both parties should consider replacing their lead candidates, but co-host Ana Navarro, who identifies as a Republican on the show but supports the Democratic Party, isn’t ready to drop the show.
“I love Joe Biden and I’ve known Joe Biden for over 20 years, and I’ve never seen Joe Biden like I saw last night. I’m worried, but I’m not giving up on Joe Biden until he says he’s giving up,” Navarro said.
“He looked old yesterday, he talked old, and he is old, but the choice is the same: he’s either a very old man or a very bad man,” Navarro said. “I’m not going to judge Joe Biden by how bad he was for 90 minutes.”
Griffin disagreed, saying the risks were “too great” for Democrats to back Biden.
Joy Behar argued that Biden looked better later in the evening when he addressed his supporters at a viewing party and reflected on what went wrong on the debate stage.
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President Biden and former President Trump will debate on Thursday night. (Getty Images)
“All of a sudden, he got over the cold. All of a sudden, he’s 63,” she said. “So what happened?”
“Joe, where the hell was that?” Navarro asked.
Griffin called Biden “historically terrible” and said he felt “tricked” by the White House after insisting for months that Biden was very smart.
After a commercial break, ABC News discussed possible candidates to replace Biden, with the names of Vice President Kamala Harris, California Governor Gavin Newsom, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg being mentioned.
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Griffin reiterated that if Biden stays in office, “he will lose to Donald Trump.”
But there are no signs that Biden is stepping down from the campaign trail and he has already clinched the Democratic nomination for 2024.
