Former President Donald Trump responded to rampant speculation that President Joe Biden will be replaced or step down after Thursday’s debate performance.
Speaking to Fox News on Friday morning, the former president was asked whether he believes the incumbent president will be the Democrat Party’s nominee after the debate.
“Yes, I think he will be the nominee,” former President Trump said.
When he was asked about speculation that President Biden could be replaced as the nominee, he said that he doesn’t believe that will happen. He also indicated that he would have defeated anyone who was on the stage with him on Thursday evening.
Another candidate “wouldn’t have done any better. No one else would have been better,” former President Trump said.
Immediately after the debate, some current and former Democrat officials, as well as pundits for CNN, NBC, the New York Times, and other outlets, expressed alarm over President Biden’s performance. Some, like the New York Times’ Thomas Freidman, even suggested that the president should step down and allow someone else to take his place, although current Democrat Party nominating rules would make that prospect extremely difficult to accomplish.
Points of concern that were raised in the media included President Biden’s voice volume, rambling answers to questions, and misplaced word choices.
“I’m not the only one whose heart is breaking right now. There’s a lot of people who watched this tonight and felt terribly for Joe Biden,” former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said during an MSNBC segment. “I don’t know if things can be done to fix this.”
After the debate, President Biden told reporters at a Waffle House in Atlanta that “I think we did well” and said he “was suffering from an illness. I am sick.”
His campaign and several Democrat Party officials—including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)—have signaled to reporters that the president doesn’t need to be replaced and suggested that those claims are an overreaction.
A Biden campaign co-chair, Mitch Landrieu, told CNN after the debate that it’s unlikely President Biden will be replaced or step down, although he conceded that the president’s performance was sub-par.
“I don’t think that you can call the debate a great time for President Biden,” Mr. Landrieu told the network on Friday morning. “I think he had a rough time—there’s no question about it.”
He added: “As the dust clears on this thing, this campaign has still got four months to go, and I think that Joe Biden is going to be the nominee.”
On Thursday evening, Mr. Newsom pushed back reporters’ suggestions that he become the Democrat Party’s nominee in a last-ditch switch.
“I will never turn my back on President Biden. Never turn my back on President Biden, I don’t know a Democrat in my party that would do so,” Mr. Newsom said.
Responding to internal Democrat Party chatter about the debate performance, Mr. Newsom told MSNBC: “I think it’s unhelpful. And I think it’s unnecessary. We’ve got to go in, we’ve got to keep our heads high.”
“We’ve got to have the back of this president. You don’t turn back because of one performance. What kind of party does that?” he asked.
A flash CNN poll that was posted on the network’s website on Thursday and Friday morning showed that 67 percent of respondents believed former President Trump outperformed President Biden, who garnered about 33 percent.
Thursday’s debate occurred prior to either candidate being formally nominated by their respective parties. The Republican National Convention is slated to be held on July 15, while the Democratic National Convention will convene on Aug. 19.
The next debate is scheduled for Sept. 10, or about two months before the November election, with ABC News hosting the event.
In terms of policy, both candidates tried to defend their performance on the key issue of the race for voters: the economy.
President Biden said his predecessor left him a “terrible” economy. He said he is working to bring down inflation.
But former President Trump replied that inflation is “absolutely killing us” and accused President Biden of doing nothing to stop it.
