USA Presidential Elections: Biden requests reset after debate flop rocks campaign
U.S.’ Joe Biden’s presidential campaign was in full damage-control mode Friday as he sought to recover from a disastrous debate showing that triggered alarm among Democrats and talk of replacing the 81-year-old on the White House ticket.
The verdict on Biden’s performance against Donald Trump was damning, with party strategists admitting “consternation” within the ranks as the election looms a little over four months away.
Thursday evening’s showdown with Trump had been touted as an opportunity for Biden to allay qualms about his advanced age, and to paint his rival as an existential threat to U.S. democracy.
As both candidates returned to the campaign trail, Biden headed to the battleground state of North Carolina.
Although Biden managed to pin down Trump on abortion rights and his role in the violence that marred the 2021 handover, he waited bafflingly long — almost 45 minutes — to bring up Trump’s felony convictions and other legal woes in any detail.
He spoke under his breath and appeared at times to lose focus, pausing for several seconds after stumbling in the opening stages.
Critics were quick to plunge their knives into his performance but Biden insisted he had done “well” as he stopped at a Waffle House with First Lady Jill Biden for post-debate snacks.
Biden attributed his raspy-voiced delivery to a “sore throat” and added that, in any case, it was “hard to debate a liar.”
A senior party figure, House Speaker Mike Johnson, said it was clear that Biden was not “up to the job.”
As the disappointment of Biden’s showing registered with Democrats, there talks of finding a new candidate before the Democratic convention in August.
