Almost five months before the presidential elections in the United States, Democrats’ alarm bells are going off after the first debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. The press in the world, for the most part, described Biden’s participation as “disappointing” and “sad.” The president seemed unfocused, slow and, as it turned out, his tone of voice was even weaker than normal because he had a cold.
In contrast, Trump, who was also questioned, walked steadily in and out of the television studio where the debate took place. In the midst of the scuffle, there was a critical moment in which Trump exposed Biden. “I didn’t understand what he said last… but it doesn’t matter, he didn’t understand either.”
The truth is that today, as a result of what happened, analysts and columnists They have warned that Biden would not be able to fight Trump in the remainder of the campaign or take the reins of the White House for a second term.
There is no discussion about who won the debate between the two leaders. Although, in the opinion of some analysts, Trump did not shine especially for his proposals for a possible government of his, Biden’s performance was so questioned that it ended up boosting the Republican. According to a poll published by CNN, the network that organized the debate, 67 percent of the audience considered Trump to be the big winner.
“Joe Biden loses, especially due to crucial issues such as immigration, which he could not defend or support. In the attacks he received from Trump, he was not able to properly argue his defense, because he clearly did not have the ability to even vocalize the response accurately. A distant and weak President Biden was seen in front of a firm, clear and forceful Trump,” said Christian Mancera, political analyst, lawyer and current councilor for District 11 of Miami-Dade County.
Biden is 81 years old and is the oldest president in the United States. If elected, he would be 82 when he is sworn in as president and would leave office at 86. But, beyond his age, the president looks physically and mentally deteriorated, and the debate was only the consolidation of all the Democrats’ fears. The president sounded hoarse, at times he was incomprehensible, he seemed disconnected and had to pause between his interventions, in contrast to a Trump who dedicated himself to looking at his rival in astonishment and even mockingly.
“Joe Biden is visibly finished, he could barely speak in the debate, incoherent at times, he had some moments of success, but essentially we saw a finished man. And a physically and mentally finished man cannot be re-elected as president of the United States. Joe Biden is not even a shadow of what we saw four years ago in debates with Trump, in which he was quite lucid and witty. We saw an older man, imprisoned by the years and lost,” Javier Maza, analyst and advisor in political communication, told SEMANA from the United States.
Biden’s campaign defended its candidate, claiming that the president had a cold and that was the reason he appeared slower and hoarser than usual. But this information was revealed after an hour of the debate, when the debacle was already inevitable.
Columnist Thomas Friedman, in The New York Times, was forceful against the president. “I watched the Biden-Trump debate alone in a hotel room in Lisbon and it made me cry. I cannot remember a more heartbreaking moment in the American presidential political campaign in my lifetime, precisely because of what he revealed: Joe Biden, a good man and a good president, has no business running for re-election. And Donald Trump, a malicious man and a mean president, has learned nothing and forgotten nothing.”
Added to Biden’s mistakes, awkward silences and lack of expressiveness was an image that went around the world: Trump was energetically celebrating his victory, while Biden was just a few steps away, with his wife, Jill, suggesting that he had to accompany him even on the way out. The contrast resonated deeply with the electorate.
More than a debate of ideas, this space seemed like a boxing ring in which the aim was to demonstrate who was in the best condition to manage the greatest power in the world. A subject on which the Democratic president lashed out in front of millions of people around the planet during an hour and a half of debate. At his side, the Republican was sarcastic and forceful.
Trump, however, was able to win over voters, especially on geopolitical issues, as he promised to end the war in Ukraine in record time by speaking with Vladimir Putin and that Ukrainian territory would not end up in Russian hands. As for the war in Gaza, he blamed Biden and said that under his leadership something like this would never have happened.
Alert among Democrats
After the debate, Democrats applauded Biden’s poor performance, as if he had won the head-to-head against Trump. They held a big celebration in Atlanta, with hundreds of attendees chanting for the president, who was accompanied by his wife, while he gave a new robotic speech. The party knows that it has to keep up appearances. The truth is that as soon as the broadcast ended, an internal crisis began that could end with Biden’s departure from the candidacy.
The process for Biden to drop out of the race is not exactly easy. He won his party’s primary election without any competition, the president’s campaign has raised millions of dollars in his name and the time frame is very short. But the most difficult thing is that the Democratic Party has no tools to force him out of his position as an elected official.
“It is difficult because it requires him to consent to being replaced, because he has already been nominated by the Democratic Party. “So, it would require him to accept,” said Enrique Prieto, professor of International Law at the Faculty of Jurisprudence at the Universidad del Rosario, regarding the voices that have begun to get louder asking Biden to step aside. But he would have to resign and, it is rumored, the only people who could convince him would be former President Obama or Jill, his wife, something that seems almost impossible.
Other candidates who are considered in case of emergency are the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken; Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer; California Governor Gavin Newsom; the governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, or Congressman Dean Phillips, the only one who also wanted to be the party’s candidate.
The problem with these profiles is that they lack the necessary recognition to confront the media monster that is Donald Trump. For months the name of Michelle Obama, the former first lady, was rumored, but she has always flatly rejected that possibility.
“At this point in the party, Biden is the Democrats’ best, and, frankly, only, hope. An alternative candidate would not only have to generate enthusiasm among Democratic voters but also have a national profile. It is difficult to imagine who else could replace him as a candidate for the November general elections,” Dorian Kantor, professor of International Relations at the Javeriana University, assured SEMANA.
The day after the debate, Biden led a campaign event with his inner circle, where he admitted that his performance was not good. “I know I am not a young man. I don’t walk as easily as before. I don’t speak as softly as before. “I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know that what I do know, I know how to tell the truth!” said the president in a much more energetic tone, but concerns are persistent with the elections so close.
“One of the dangers this country faces, I believe and Biden also believes, is the risk of a Donald Trump victory. And after the debate it is difficult to avoid the feeling that if Biden remains in the race, the likelihood of Trump reaching the White House in January will increase,” said Nicholas Kristof, in his column in The New York Times.
For now, the crisis continues for Democrats, who fear that their options to remain in power have vanished in a matter of minutes after the disastrous debate. Biden remains firm, but could change his mind depending on how the polls move in the coming weeks. The president also intends to debate Trump again in September and improve his already battered image.
