The first 2024 presidential debate did not go as planned for President Biden, and if the goal was to allay concerns about his age and viability, it couldn’t have gone any worse.
The criticism began pouring in as soon as the debate began, when Biden’s speech was noticeably halting, unsure and husky, and it didn’t get any better after that.
From calls for him to withdraw from the nomination to openly emotional reactions from his most fervent supporters, here are 10 of the most eye-catching media reactions to Biden’s debates.
Biden’s ‘disastrous’ debate performance sparks media mayhem, calls for him to withdraw from 2024 election
MSNBC’s Joy Reid says Democrats are ‘panic-ing’
MSNBC host Joy Reid sounded dismayed, saying she had received frantic messages on her phone from figures in Obamaworld and Bidenworld expressing concern that Biden looked “very weak and vulnerable” and that his performance had upset many in the party heading into November.
“My phone just kept ringing nonstop and everyone just reacted with near panic,” Reed said.
“The people I was messaging with were very concerned that President Biden looked very weak, very weak,” she continued. “Joe Biden’s job tonight was to reassure them. His job was to calm the party, to make them feel like, ‘Yes, I can do this. I have four more years. I have the ability and the stamina and the strength to do four more years.’ … He didn’t do that. He did the opposite.”
MSNBC’s Alex Wagner says Biden failed to prove he’s not too old
MSNBC host Alex Wagner, who joined the network from the debate site in Atlanta, gave a bleak picture when asked about the mood among Democrats and Biden supporters on the debate floor.
“Even though I’m in the pitch room, I’m not going to glamorize it or exaggerate it. There was a uniformly negative response to Biden’s performance tonight,” a dejected Wagner told viewers.
The MSNBC host, who is married to former President Barack Obama’s White House chef, said Biden is “fighting the caricature of being an infirm figure” who has done nothing to dispel “the impression that he was very old and didn’t speak well in the debates.”
“He changed his answer about abortion into a reference to the killing of immigrants. So this person was clearly over-prepared and had a lot of different talking points swirling around in his head. As a result, I felt like an easy-to-read answer was delivered with a lot less force and clarity than it should have been,” she said.
CNN’s Van Jones gets emotional
Van Jones, a CNN political commentator and former adviser to President Obama, appeared to be in tears after the heavily panned debate aired.
“I just want to speak from my heart,” Jones said. “I love him. He’s a good man. He loves his country. He’s trying his best, but tonight he had to rise to the challenge to restore the trust of his country and his base, and he didn’t do it. And now I think there are a lot of people who would like to see him consider choosing a different path.”
“The convention is still a long way off, and this party has time to consider another way to move forward, if he will allow it,” he continued. “But that’s not what we wanted from Joe Biden, and it’s personally painful for many of us. This isn’t just panic, it’s pain over what we saw tonight.”
Jones shared the video on social media with the caption, “I love Joe Biden but tonight’s debate is tough.”
Media calls on Biden to drop out of 2024 race after ‘disastrous’ CNN debate performance: ‘It’s over now’
CNN’s Anderson Cooper slams Vice President Kamala Harris
CNN’s Anderson Cooper struck a serious tone as he welcomed Vice President Kamala Harris after the debate, and was quick to highlight Biden’s poor performance.
“Democrats who watched the debate were concerned about the performance. Some said it was a disaster, others said it was a disaster. They were Democrats who were particularly concerned that Biden didn’t push back against Trump’s lies,” Cooper said.
Ms Harris pivoted to accuse Mr Trump of lying and attempted to lay out detailed arguments against her opponent’s record, but was cut off by Mr Cooper.
“That may all be true, but the president of the United States couldn’t make that case to Donald Trump on stage tonight,” Cooper said. “You debated then-Vice President Biden four years ago, and he was a very different person on stage four years ago when you debated him. Surely that’s not true?”
Harris suggested Biden’s record was more important than a 90-minute debate, but Cooper pressed on.
“After watching the president’s actions tonight, can you tell me you’re not concerned at all?” Cooper asked.
Drudge Report banner panics over Biden appearance
Though it has lost much of its influence, the once-powerful news aggregator Drudge Report drew attention on Thursday night with a bold banner reading, “Operation: Replace Biden.”
“With 130 Days Left, Democrats Panic! The Debate is a Disaster,” the Drudge Report wrote in capital letters, including a poll question asking who would be the best candidate to replace Trump: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Harris or “other.”
A banner posted by news aggregator site Drudge Report after the CNN presidential debate. (Screenshot/Drudge Report)
The Drudge Report supported Republican Donald Trump when he first ran for president, but has adopted a more clearly anti-Trump stance in recent years.
New York Times columnist says he ‘cried’ during debate, editorial board calls for Biden to withdraw
Liberal columnist Thomas Friedman, a close friend of Biden, wrote a somber piece after the debate with the headline, “Joe Biden is a good man and a good president. He should drop out of the race.”
“As I watched the Biden-Trump debate alone in my hotel room in Lisbon, tears flowed. I have never experienced a more heartbreaking moment in US presidential politics in my lifetime, precisely because Joe Biden has proven to be a good man and a good president, but unfit to run for reelection,” Friedman wrote.
“The Biden family and political team must convene quickly to have the hardest conversations with the president — conversations of love, clarity and determination,” he continued. “To give America the best chance of thwarting the Trump threat in November, the president must voluntarily declare that he will not run for reelection and will send all of his delegates to the Democratic National Convention.”
He added: “Biden is the one who Traveled I say all of the above with great sadness because while he was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he was in Afghanistan and Pakistan simultaneously after 9/11.”
Later that day, the New York Times editorial board, in a bombshell article, called on Biden to drop out of the race.
“President Biden has repeatedly and correctly stated that at stake in the November presidential election is the very future of American democracy,” the editorial board said. Began Friday.
“Biden has said he is the candidate most likely to confront and defeat this threat of tyranny. His case rests heavily on the fact that he beat Trump in 2020,” Time’s editorial board continued. “That’s no longer enough of a reason why Biden should be this year’s Democratic nominee.”
The Times offered a frank assessment of how voters perceived the president, declaring that “Mr. Biden is not the same man he was four years ago” and calling for him to step down.
“Biden has been a fine president… but the biggest public act Biden can do now is to announce that he will not run for reelection,” the editorial board wrote.
Media members shocked by Biden’s ‘terrible’ debate performance: ‘A total disaster’
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough’s fitness for office questioned
“Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough expressed his “love” for Biden but acknowledged that Biden’s performance against former President Trump calls into question whether Biden should seek reelection.
“If he was a CEO and he performed like that, would any company in America, any Fortune 500 company in America, keep him as CEO?” Scarborough asked.
Scarborough made it clear that the criticism stung because of his personal affection for the president. Scarborough had argued with his wife and co-moderator Mika Brzezinski, who told everyone to “calm down” over his poor performance at the debate.
“You’re the only one raising your voice. Everyone is calm here,” Scarborough said.
MSNBC’s Claire McCaskill acknowledged that Biden has failed to prove he’s fit to be president.
Claire McCaskill, a former Missouri Democratic senator and MSNBC political analyst, acknowledged she is heartbroken that Biden has failed to prove he is worthy of another term in office.
“I’m not the only one whose heart is breaking right now,” McCaskill said.
“Joe Biden had one thing he needed to do tonight and he didn’t do it. He had one thing he needed to accomplish, which was convince the American people that he was the right man for the job at his age and he didn’t do it tonight,” she added. “I don’t know if this situation can be fixed.”
Calls for Biden to resign erupt on “The View”
Several anti-Trump commentators ABC’s “The View” Biden said Friday that he should abandon his reelection campaign.
“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.
“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.
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.
Biden vows to keep White House despite Democratic panic after debate disaster
Washington Post columnist sharply criticizes Biden
Washington Post columnist David Ignatius wrote a scathing piece titled “Why Biden Won’t Accept the Truth That’s So Clear to Everyone,” questioning whether the president had the strength and wisdom to step aside.
“It was clear almost a year ago that President Biden should not run for a second term…But Biden and his aides persisted, forging ahead to Thursday’s disastrous televised debate, vividly illustrating the flaws the country was already sensing.” Ignatius wrote.
“How did it get to this point? What combination of moral conviction, personal confidence and self-interest drove Biden to decide to seek another term despite the risks? I have an unusual view of Biden’s teetering on the edge,” he added, noting that in September Biden had said he shouldn’t run again.
“It should not have attracted so much attention, as it echoed much of what many Democrats were thinking last summer. But perhaps the call for his resignation caused some stir, as I have strongly supported much of Biden’s foreign and domestic policy,” Ignatius wrote.
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Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wolfson, Gabriel Hayes, Jeffrey Clark, Lindsay Koenick and Yael Harron contributed to this report.
