Post Biden-Trump debate poll finds 40% Democrats think party should replace president as 2024 nominee: Live

Biden and Republican challenger squared off last week at CNN-moderated debate in Atlanta, Georgia, that went badly for the commander-in-chief as he pursues a second term in the White House aged 81

Biden addresses debate performance: ‘I don’t debate as well as I used to’

Joe Biden should be removed as the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee following his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump, according to 41 percent of Democratic voters surveyed in a new poll by USA Today/Suffolk University, the latest blow to his ailing campaign.

The president, 81, met with his family at Camp David in Maryland on Sunday to discuss his political future in the wake of his frail, confused appearance in Atlanta last week, which only heightened doubts about his cognitive ability and sparked calls for him to drop out of the race for the White House.

Biden’s family reportedly encouraged him to stay the course as he spent Sunday with First Lady Jill Biden, his children, and grandchildren, with the possibility of firing campaign advisers said to have been discussed.

Top Democrats are believed to have been in crisis talks over the last three days amid speculation the party could move to replace Biden with another candidate.

US Vice President Kamala Harris, Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Governors Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, Wes Moore, and JB Pritzker have all been named as possible emergency successors.

Key Points

• Post-debate poll finds four in 10 Democrats think party should replace Biden as 2024 nominee
• President meets family at Camp David as calls mount for him to quit US presidential race
• Biden clan tries to blame campaign staff for disastrous debate performance
• Top Democrat admits party is having ‘serious’ talks about dropping Biden

[1 July 2024 15:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

Post-debate poll finds four in 10 Democrats think party should replace Biden as 2024 nominee

Joe Biden should be removed as the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee following his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump, according to 41 per cent of Democratic voters surveyed in a new poll by USA Today/Suffolk University, the latest blow to his ailing campaign.

[1 July 2024 15:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Do debates matter? History hints at whether Biden could still recover

Nearly everyone agrees — including Biden himself — that he botched the first debate of the 2024 presidential election, but the question remains as to how much a debate performance matters when it comes to reclaiming the White House.

History shows the 81-year-old Democrat could still recover, writes Kelly Rissman.

[1 July 2024 14:40 · Oliver O'Connell]

Biden sees presidential odds fall while Harris rises after debate

The president’s odds of remaining the 2024 Democratic nominee have fallen in the wake of last week’s debate debacle, according to one sports-betting website.

While Biden is still the favored candidate and US vice president Kamala Harris remains far behind, her odds jumped after the debate, according to Oddschecker.

Biden’s odds dropped by roughly 40 per cent between last week and Friday morning.

Meanwhile, Harris saw her odds nearly double over the same period.

Here’s more from Katie Hawkinson.

[1 July 2024 14:28 · Oliver O'Connell]

Trump asks if Biden is ‘choker’ or ‘cognitive mess'

Donald Trump has lashed out at Joe Biden in his latest Truth Social post about Thursday’s presidential debate.

The former president wrote:

Only three things could have been the reason that Crooked Joe Biden, the worst President in the history of the United States, failed so badly at the debate on Thursday night. THEY WERE: 1) “TRUMP WAS REALLY GREAT!” In all fairness, and I say in complete and total modesty, many, on both sides of the political spectrum, have said it was the greatest single debate performance in the long and storied history of Presidential Debates. Thank you! 2) CROOKED JOE “CHOKED” LIKE A DOG. 3) JOE IS A COGNITIVE MESS! It could be combinations of all three, but ask yourself this question, as a proud citizen of the United States of America (which no longer means a thing, to many, as millions of people flow into our Country, totally unchecked and unvetted!), would you rather have a President who is a CHOKER, or a President who is a COGNITIVE MESS??? Also, did my Debate Performance play a role in Joe’s total “disembowelment” before the World? Our Fake Historians over at CNN & MSDNC would like to know???

[1 July 2024 14:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Philadelphia Inquirer calls on Trump to drop out, not Biden

Here’s a contrary opinion from the newspaper of record in the key swing state of Pennsylvania.

[1 July 2024 13:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump veep candidate claims Republican’s departure from the White House was ‘smooth transition'

North Dakota governor Doug Burgum and senators JD Vance, Marco Rubio and Tim Scott all joined the Sunday shows to try to shift the blame from the Republican candiate after he was accused of spreading lies about abortion, his record in office and the economy during Thursday’s debate.

Burgum, in particular, absolutely outdid himself.

[1 July 2024 13:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump tells Biden to ‘get the hell out of here’ at lie-filled rally

For balance, here’s Alex Woodward on Trump’s “victory lap” in Virginia following the debate.

The former president used his latest rally to argue that the upcoming election isn’t about whether the clearly-struggling Biden can “survive a 90-minute debate” but whether America can survive another four years under his leadership, suggesting that the country might not “survive another five months.”

[1 July 2024 12:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

Biden comes out swinging for Trump after debate disaster

Hours after the first presidential debate, where he struggled to keep up with Trump’s avalanche of lies and couldn’t string together coherent sentences,a visibly energized Joe Biden acknowledged the previous night’s failures in fired-up remarks to a raucous rally crowd in North Carolina on Friday.

“I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious,” he said at the end of his remarks in Raleigh.

“Folks, I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as well 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. I know right from wrong. I know how to to this job.

“I know what millions of Americans do: When you get knocked down you get back up.”

Andrew Feinberg and Alex Woodward have this report.

[1 July 2024 12:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Pelosi attacks Trump and says he might have ‘dementia’ after Biden’s rocky debate

Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi went on the attack on Sunday, coming to the defense of Joe Biden following his disastrous debate performance last week.

Pelosi, responding to calls from some Democrats and newspaper editorial boards for Biden to step aside and polling showing that a clear majority of Americans believe that he does not have the mental faculties to be president, pivoted to attacking the Republican candidate instead.

“There are healthcare professionals who think that Trump has dementia,” she told CNN.

“If we’re just talking about mental acuity, let’s be fair about it. Not even that he lies, that he doesn’t know the truth.”

Here’s what Trump thought of her remarks, by the way.

John Bowden has more.

[1 July 2024 11:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

Biden clan tries to blame campaign staff for disastrous debate performance

The president’s family has blamed his campaign team for his disastrous debate performance on Thursday, questioning whether top advisers should be fired while insisting he should remain in the White House race.

James Liddell has more.