Obama, Clintons rush to quell Democratic revolt against Joe Biden

After a calamitous debate performance led some of Joe Biden’s top supporters to openly question whether he was fit to remain the Democratic nominee, the US President has vowed to keep on fighting.

A re-energised Joe Biden attends a rally in North Carolina after his poor performance at Friday’s debate left Democrats in a tailspin. Picture: AFP

Embattled US president Joe Biden has conceded he does not talk or debate as well as he did when he was a younger man, as Barack Obama and the Clintons rushed to quell an internal Democratic Party revolt against the ageing president’s leadership on Friday (Saturday AEST).

After a calamitous debate performance against bitter rival Donald Trump led some of Joe Biden’s top supporters to openly question whether he was fit to remain the Democratic nominee, the President vowed to keep on fighting.

Mr Biden repeatedly mumbled his answers, spoke in incoherent sentences and froze for several seconds in a debate he hoped would restart his faltering campaign for re-election, as he faces concerns about his age and a widening gap in the polls between him and Mr Trump.

The president appeared energised and sprightly on Friday (Saturday AEST), heading up a campaign rally in North Carolina, where he conceded he “knew he wasn’t a young man”.

“I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t talk as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to,” he told the crowd of supporters.

“Well, I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. I know, like millions of Americans, when you get knocked down, you get back up”.

Former Democratic president Barack Obama was the most prominent party leader to come out in support for Mr Biden on Friday night (Saturday morning AEST).

Mr Biden’s former boss acknowledged the debate had gone wrong, but Mr Obama – who had his own disastrous head-to-head with Mitt Romney in 2012 and went onto win – said the choice between the President and Mr Trump remained the same.

“Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself,” Mr Obama wrote on X.

Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight — and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit.

“Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November.”

Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the…

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 28, 2024

Former party leader Hillary Clinton, posted a short message declaring she’d be voting for Mr Biden, without referencing the debate.

“The choice in this election remains very simple. It’s a choice between someone who cares about you – your rights, your prospects, your future – versus someone who’s only in it for himself,” she said on X.

Former president Bill Clinton also weighed in, crediting Biden with pulling the US out of the “quagmire” left by Mr Trump.

“I’ll leave the debate rating to the pundits, but here’s what I know: facts and history matter. Joe Biden has given us 3 years of solid leadership, steadying us after the pandemic, creating a record number of new jobs, making real progress solving the climate crisis, and launching a successful effort in reducing inflation, all while pulling us out of the quagmire Donald Trump left us in. That’s what’s really at stake in November.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also praised the US President, declining to weigh in on his debate performance.

“I’ve worked very closely with him and every interaction I’ve had with him has been very positive,” Mr Albanese said when asked whether he thought Mr Biden was “too old”.

“I’ve sat around the cabinet table with not just President Biden, but the Defence Secretary and the Secretary of State and the Commerce Secretary and others. And we have forged a really important relationship, going forward with the US administration. We’ll work with whichever government is elected.”

In a deeply personal and ­aggressive rematch in the swing state of Georgia on Thursday (Friday AEST), Mr Trump made several extreme and false statements about migrants and the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots, while Mr Biden attacked him for being a convicted felon and accused him of having the “morals of an alley cat” for having sex with a porn star while his “wife was pregnant”.

But the former president was widely considered the winner of the debate because he was more coherent and focused than Mr Biden, 81, who at times appeared to lose track of his answers and suffered a hoarse voice and coughed frequently.

“I don’t know what you said at the end of that sentence, I don’t even think you know what you said,” Mr Trump said at one point at the CNN-hosted debate in Atlanta.

The masterminds behind former Democrat president Barack Obama’s two election victories – former campaign manager David Plouffe and ex-chief strategist David Axelrod – lashed out at Mr Biden’s poor performance and questioned whether he could ­remain atop their party’s ticket.

“(Mr Biden and Mr Trump) are three years apart; they looked 30 years apart,” Mr Plouffe said.

Mr Axelrod said there was a “sense of shock” among Democratic leaders and operatives over the President’s performance.

“(Mr Biden) did get stronger as the debate went on,” the longtime top Obama aide added.

“By that time, I think the panic had set in and I think … there are going to be discussions about whether he should continue.

As he defended his record in a term blighted by inflation, a crisis at the US-Mexico border, and wars overseas in Europe and the Middle East, Mr Biden tried to portray himself as a safe steward of the US economy and a guardian of democracy.

“We had an economy that was in free fall,” Mr Biden said. “The pandemic was so badly ­handled. What we had to do was try to put things back together again, and that’s exactly what we began to do.”

But his early verbal stumble on the US health system – saying his administration had “beaten Medicare” – haunted him throughout the debate, triggering panic among Democrat operatives who had boasted of the President’s week-long preparation for the debate at Camp David.

“We be able to help make sure that all those things we need to do: childcare, elder care, making sure that we continue to strengthen our health care system, making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I’ve been able to do with the with the Covid, excuse me, dealing with everything we have to do with … we finally beat Medicare,” the President said in a rambling answer.

Former US president Donald Trump during the debate. Picture: AFP

His Republican opponent retorted swiftly: “You did beat Medicare, you beat it to death.”

Mr Biden dismissed concerns about his performance on Friday morning, (Friday evening AEST) at a stop at a fast food restaurant, when he told reporters he “did well” and that it was “hard to ­debate a liar” such as Mr Trump.

Vice-President Kamala Harris, 59, would be the most likely substitute for Mr Biden if he were to pull out of the race – despite the fact her approval polling is worse than the President’s – due to her institutional advantage as the ­administration’s number two and the support she would have from her party’s African-American base. Other options to lead the Democratic ticket would likely include California Governor Gavin Newsom, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and Illinois Governor and billionaire J. B. Pritzker.

Mr Newsom quickly shut down suggestions that he could take Mr Biden’s place

Ms Harris – the first woman and first black person to be Vice-President – backed Mr Biden’s leadership but acknowledged his struggles in the first minutes of the debate.

“It was a slow start, but it was a strong finish,” she said. “People can debate on style points, but ultimately, this election and who is the president of the United States has to be about substance and the contrast is clear.”

The President’s former White House communications chief, Kate Bedingfield, said her former boss had put in an “atypical bad performance”.

“It was a really disappointing debate performance from Joe Biden. I don’t think there’s any other way to slice it,” Ms Bedingfield said after the debate.

“His biggest issue was to prove to the American people that he had the energy, the stamina – and he didn’t do that.”

Former Democrat senator Claire McCaskill said: “He had one thing he had to accomplish, and that was reassure America that he was up to the job at his age. And he failed at that.”

While Mr Trump emerged victorious, he was also the centre of some of the debate’s more ­bizarre moments.

The 78-year-old Republican nominee struggled to explain his position on abortion, failed to say definitively that he would definitely accept the results of the upcoming election, faced attacks over his status as the first president to be convicted of a crime, and started an argument with Mr Biden over their respective golf handicaps.

The two political warhorses stuck to familiar talking points as the 90 minute debate ranged across immigration, abortion, ­inflation, Covid-19 mandates, and fiscal policy as well as Mr Trump’s multiple legal woes.

Mr Biden brought up Mr Trump’s status as a “convicted felon” following the former president’s hush-money trial, while the former president homed in on the Biden family’s controversial business relationships with China while the elder Biden was Vice-President.

“He gets money from China. He’s a Manchurian candidate,” Mr Trump said.

He added that Mr Biden had not scrapped the Trump administration’s tariffs on China ­despite criticising them.

Mr Biden accused Mr Trump of implementing irresponsible tax cuts when he was in office, ­vowing to increase taxes on the rich to shore up the US age pension system.

Mr Trump refused to commit clearly to accepting the results of November’s election.

CNN reported that while Mr Biden made nine false or ­misleading statements, Mr Trump made a staggering 30, ­including “egregious” falsehoods on abortion, the US Capitol insurrection, health care and NATO.

One Biden ally said he had to turn off the TV several times. Another said Mr Biden’s performance made even Mr Trump, look like a statesman. Some also expressed concerns about the ­effect the debate would have on Mr Biden’s fundraising at a time when Mr Trump is poised to wipe out the president’s financial advantage.