The First Lady Jill Biden May Influence a Change of Course for President Joe Biden

President Biden was reportedly humiliated by his debate performance on Thursday and was “devoid of confidence,” according to reports.  “It’s a mess,” a person familiar with the president’s mood after the debate told NBC News.  The outlet reported several prominent Democrats expressed concern in private over Biden’s chances of beating Donald Trump in November following his debate performance. However, they remain steadfast in their support for Biden in public.  “The only person who has ultimate influence with him is the first lady,” another person told the outlet. “If she decides there should be a change of course, there will be a change of course.”  The president and his family are reportedly set to informally discuss the future of his campaign at Camp David.  “Any discussion about the campaign is expected to be informal or an afterthought,” the person close to the Biden family told NBC. “No one is sitting down for a formal or determinative discussion.”

BIDEN DEBATE DEBACLE: 10 EYE-OPENING MEDIA RESPONSES FROM MSNBC PANIC TO ‘THE VIEW’ CALLING FOR REPLACEMENT

Biden addressed his debate performance at a rally in North Carolina on Friday.  “I know I’m not a young man. I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know — I know how to tell the truth!” Biden told a crowd of supporters.  “I can do this job, because, quite frankly, the stakes are too high,” Biden said during his speech. “Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation.” He also told the crowd that he wouldn’t be running for re-election if he didn’t think he could do the job. During a speech at a New Jersey fundraiser on Saturday, the president acknowledged he didn’t have a “great night.”  The first debate of the 2024 presidential campaign didn’t go according to plan for President Biden. If the goal was to remove concerns about his age and viability, it couldn’t have gone worse.  Shortly after the debate began, Biden began his notably halting, unsure and raspy performance, and it didn’t get better in the aftermath.  From calls to step aside from the nomination to outright emotional reactions from his fervent supporters, here are 10 of the most eye-opening media responses to Biden’s debate showing: 

MSNBC’s Joy Reid says Democrats ‘approaching panic’.  MSNBC’s Alex Wagner says Biden failed to prove he’s not too old.  CNN’s Van Jones got emotional.  I love Joe Biden. But tonight’s debate hurt.  CNN’s Anderson Cooper took a serious tone when he welcomed Vice President Kamala Harris following the debate and quickly put an emphasis on Biden’s poor performance. Harris tried to pivot to lambasting Trump, but Cooper cut her off. “All that may be true, but the President of the United States was not able to make that case to Donald Trump on the stage tonight,” Cooper said. “Can you say that you are not concerned at all having watched the president‘s performance tonight?” Cooper asked.  The once-prominent news aggregator Drudge Report drew attention over its banner blaring Thursday night, “OPERATION: REPLACE BIDEN.”  “DEMS SCRAMBLE WITH 130 DAYS TO GO! DEBATE CATASTROPHE,” Drudge Report wrote in all caps.  It included a poll question over who would be the best Democrat to replace him out of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Harris or “Other.”

Liberal columnist Thomas Friedman, a close friend of Biden, wrote a somber piece after the debate headlined, “Joe Biden Is a Good Man and a Good President. He Must Bow Out of the Race.” MSNBC‘s Joe Scarborough questions fitness for office.  MSNBC’s Claire McCaskill admits Biden ‘failed’ to prove he’s fit for office. ‘The View’ erupts with calls for Biden to step aside.  Co-host Sunny Hostin, a strong Biden supporter, told the panel “most of us are mourning.”  “It was really hard to watch and it kind of pains me to say this today, but I think President Biden needs to step down and be replaced,” co-host Sara Haines said.  “If we want to defeat Donald Trump in November, I absolutely think that,” she continued. “And I think Biden’s team saw it coming. I think that’s why they pushed for an earlier debate, so they’d have time to change course if needed.” 

Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin, who worked for the Trump administration but has since emerged as an outspoken critic of her former boss, said she was in “shock” watching the debate. “I’ve had concerns for a couple of years about Biden’s age. It was stunningly worse than I expected, the performance,” Griffin said.   Washington Post columnist David Ignatius penned a harsh piece, “Why Biden didn’t accept the truth that was there for all to see,” which questioned if the president has the strength and wisdom to step aside.  “It was obvious nearly a year ago that President Biden shouldn’t run for a second term… Yet Biden and his inner circle persisted, driving on toward Thursday’s disastrous televised debate, which vividly portrayed the failings the country had already detected,” Ignatius wrote.