Joe Biden’s Catastrophic Debate Performance Sends Dems into Panic Mode

After a full week of debate prep, and with CNN’s thumb on the scales, Joe Biden’s debate performance was so abysmal it has been universally panned as a ‘catastrophe’ for Democrats.

“OPERATION REPLACE BIDEN,” the Drudge headline screamed Thursday night. “DEMS SCRAMBLE WITH 130 DAYS TO GO. DEBATE CATASTROPHE.”

CNN morning host Kasie Hunt wrote on X before the debate was over that Biden’s weak demeanor had all her Democrat friends “nearly beside themselves.”

“The voice, open-mouthed look, and visual contrast between President Biden and former President Trump all have Democrats I’m talking to nearly beside themselves watching this debate,” she said.

ABC News’ Jonathan Karl said Democrats are saying “Biden is so diminished it’s undeniable now.”

“It’s hard for me to accurately describe what a disaster this was for Joe Biden,” said liberal commentator Chris Cillizza.

The main issue he is dealing with in this campaign is that voters think he’s too old to be president. They’re worried about his ability to do the job, they’re worried that 81 is just too old.

He could not have affirmed those fears more if he tried!

In a piece at the New York Time’s, columnist John Healy wrote: “I’m Hearing High Anxiety From Democrats Over Biden’s Debate Performance.”

Nicholas Kristof wrote on X: “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. Someone like @gretchenwhitmer or @SherrodBrown or @SecRaimondo could still jump in and beat Trump.”

NBC News anchor Chuck Todd said people were watching the debate to see if either of the candidates would look like “the caricature that the other campaign had tried to paint of him. And at the end of the day, Joe Biden looks like the caricature that conservative media has been painting.”

Todd added that he has been talking to other Democrats and “there’s a full on panic about this performance.”

From start to finish, Biden looked and sounded weak. His voice was raspy, he stumbled repeatedly over his words, and told stale, long-debunked lies like the “very fine people” hoax and military “suckers and losers” hoax. When the topic turned to the border, Biden falsely claimed that the Border Patrol union had endorsed him.

“By the way the border patrol endorsed me, endorsed my position,” Biden said, as former President Trump shook his head in disbelief.

Border Patrol Union (NBPC) immediately responded on X: “To be clear, we never have and never will endorse Biden.”

During the CNN roundtable after the debate, the network’s liberal pundits shared their dismay at Biden’s performance.

Former Obama advisor David Axelrod said that “there was a sense of shock” at how Biden sounded. “He seemed a little disoriented,” Axelrod said.

“There’s real concern here tonight that’s there’s real damage that’s been done that cannot be undone,” said CNN anchor Abby Phillips. “Biden solidified the perception among voters … that he cannot do this for another four years.”

“That was painful,” said CNN’s political analyst Van Jones, adding that he “loves Joe Biden,” but “he didn’t do well at all.”

“This was a game-changing debate,” said CNN anchor John King. “There is a deep, a wide, and a very aggressive panic in the Democratic party. It started minutes into the debate, and it continues right now.”

King said that there are conversations already happening about Biden’s “dismal” performance between party strategists, elected officials and party fundraisers who believe Biden has become a drag on the party..

“And they’re having conversations about what they should do about it,” he said. “Some of those conversations include, “should we go to the White House and ask him to step aside, and other conversations are about should prominent Democrats go public with that call because they think this debate was that terrible.”

“It started minutes in, it started with the first couple of answers, and it’s continued throughout the night from ‘oh my G-d, oh my G-d, oh my G-d, to what should we do about this?” King said. “And it involves very senior people in the Democratic party, including elected officials saying, “we have a problem.”