Joe Biden is facing calls to stand aside as the Democratic presidential nominee after a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.
A group of Democrat congressmen are discussing the need for a new nominee after watching the “disaster” unfold, The New York Times reported, while potential replacements including Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, are being implored to step in.
Mr Biden gave a stuttering and incoherent performance at the debate, hosted by CNN in Atlanta, as he struggled to respond to questions about policy and often trailed off mid-sentence.
David Plouffe, who managed Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, told the network: “It’s kind of a Defcon 1 moment.”
David Axelrod, another strategist for Mr Obama, said: “I think you’re going to hear discussions that I don’t know will lead to anything but there are going to be discussions about whether he should continue.”
The warning signs for Mr Biden’s were there from the start of the night – from the moment he walked on stage, in fact.
The president looked nervous as he waited in the wings while he was introduced, before stiffly making his way across the stage.
“Folks, how are you?” he said, in a voice that was close to a mumble. As he took his spot, the US president was barely audible as he said, hoarsely: “Great to be here, thank you.”
Mr Axelrod said later in the evening that the Democrat appeared “disoriented” as soon as he stepped on stage.
Mr Trump moved faster and looked younger as he headed towards his own lectern, mouthing a quick “thank you” as he did so.
During the 90-minute debate, Mr Biden spoke in a soft, raspy voice which at times made his answers hard to decipher.
As concern grew over the president’s performance, the White House began to brief out that he had a cold.
The debate in Atlanta, Georgia, opened with questions on the US economy, but Mr Biden repeatedly paused to correct himself as he confused millions and billions and percentage figures.
“What I’m going to do is fix the tax system. For example, we have a thousand trillionaires in America,” Mr Biden said before clearing his throat. “I mean, a thousand billionaires.”
Mr Biden also mixed up a 24 and 25 per cent rate of tax, then lost his train of thought and stared down at his notes.
He added that the tax raise would raise $500 million (£395 million) in a 10 year period, before correcting his statement to $500 billion.
The Biden campaign has touted his stewardship of the economy as a vote-winner for the president.
Over the night, Trump frequently flipped questions on the economy into responses on the US-Mexico border crisis.
“The only jobs he created are for illegal immigrants,” he said of Mr Biden’s immigration policies. “We are living right now in a rat’s nest.”
In the debate’s most excruciating moment for the president, he lost his train of thought while discussing healthcare and tripped over his words before taking a protracted pause.
“We finally beat Medicare,” he began again, before a moderator cut him off.
Mr Biden has in fact proposed increasing taxes on people who earn more than $400,000 to boost spending on the welfare programme for over-65s.
His stumble was a gift for Trump, who accused Mr Biden on the night of seeking to destroy the security net for senior citizens.
“He did beat Medicare,” Trump chimed in. “Beat it to death.”
When the debate hosts turned the discussion to immigration, Trump issued one of the most widely shared put downs of the night.
In a stumbling answer on his border policies, in which Mr Biden slurred some words, he said there were 40 per cent fewer people coming across the border illegally than when Trump left office.
“I’m going to continue to move it until we get the total ban on ... the total initiative relative to what we’re going to do with more Border Patrol and more asylum officers,” Mr Biden said.
Trump responded: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
Mr Biden’s claims of a reduction in crossings refer to an executive action he launched last month, which made it easier to deport asylum seekers. Overall, however, illegal crossings have surged during his tenure.
Ahead of the debate, Democrat strategists had highlighted abortion as another wedge issue that would tilt the election in their favour.
Mr Biden struggled to explain Roe v Wade, the historic 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalised abortion nationwide.
When asked if he supported restrictions on abortion, Mr Biden rambled that he “supports Roe v Wade, which had three trimesters. The first time is between a woman and a doctor”.
He added: “Second time is between a doctor and an extreme situation. A third time is between the doctor, I mean, between the women and the state.”
In an apparent non-sequitur, Mr Biden also mentioned a young woman who was recently murdered by an immigrant.
Van Jones, a CNN pundit and former Obama adviser, called for Mr Biden to step aside and said the debate was “painful” to watch, adding: “That was not what we needed from Joe Biden.”
Slip-ups and freezes
Mr Biden had already sparked fears for his ability to navigate a gruelling election campaign with a series of slip-ups and freezes.
Earlier this month, Mr Biden seemingly froze while attending a concert at the White House commemorating the Juneteenth holiday.
Amidst the lively performance by gospel singer Kirk Franklin, Mr Biden stood motionless at the centre while the crowd danced and clapped around him.
After approximately 30 seconds, Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, whose death ignited nationwide protests, appeared to notice the situation and put his arm around Biden before the pair bumped fists.
The Trump campaign took to Twitter, commenting, “Lights are on but no one’s home.”
During a fundraiser alongside Mr Obama on June 15, it was widely reported that Mr Biden “appeared to freeze up” on stage.
In clips of the incident, Mr Biden pauses in front of the crowd and raises his hand to take in the applause from the audience.
After dropping his arm to his side, he then stands stiffly on stage before Mr Obama tugs his wrist to walk offstage together.
What happens now?
It would be challenging for the Democratic Party to replace Mr Biden at this stage in the campaign, after he won the party’s primary essentially unchallenged earlier this year.
Incumbent presidents running for a second term are almost never defenestrated by their party at their party’s convention, where the formal decision to award a nomination takes place.
To replace Mr Biden, the party would either require his consent, or for more than half of the state delegates who pledged support for him during the primary process to turn their backs on him.
If Mr Biden agreed to step aside, then the party would choose a new nominee in an open process of voting on the convention floor in Chicago in late August.
Politico reported on Thursday night that a strategist close to potential Democratic presidential candidates had been bombarded with messages requesting that their boss step up to challenge Mr Biden.
Kamala Harris, his vice-president who is reportedly on the shortlist to replace him, spoke in support of Mr Biden.
She told CNN that Mr Biden had offered “a very clear contrast with Donald Trump on all the issues that matter to the American people”.
“Yes, there was a slow start, but it was a strong finish,” she said.
Mr Newsom, who acted as a “surrogate” for the Biden campaign, speaking to the media in Atlanta, flatly rejected calls for a replacement.
He said it was “farcical” to suggest that he could take over, telling reporters: “It’s a non sequitur. I don’t even understand the context of that.
“This is a president of the United States running for re-election. He’s our guy. And that’s part of the diversion tactic of the right – to continue to sort of muddy the waters on all of that and that nonsensical speculation.”
When pressed on the issue in an interview with MSNBC, he added: “You don’t turn your back because of one performance. What kind of party does that?”
A poll taken by CNN after the debate showed that 67 per cent of viewers thought Donald Trump had won, compared with 55 per cent who thought he would win before it started.
Republicans at the debate were visibly delighted with Mr Biden’s performance, but said their campaign would not change if he was replaced.
Michael Whatley, the chairman of the Republican National Convention, told The Telegraph: “I don’t think it changes our approach at all.
“This entire election cycle is about the policy solutions that president Trump is putting on the table. No Democrat is going to make a major change in policy, versus where Joe Biden is today.”
