Biden blunders dominate combative debate with Trump
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President Biden's answers during the first debate of the 2024 election were sputtering and rambling at times, with allies immediately expressing grave concerns about the impact on his race against Donald Trump.
The big picture: Trump's repeated falsehoods, and his unwillingness to say whether he'd accept the results of the 2024 election, will also make headlines. But Biden set the tone with a subdued start and struggled at times to make coherent arguments.
- Some of Biden's more sure-footed moments came when he went on the attack. Biden took personal swipes at Trump, at one point claiming Trump had "the morals of an alleycat."
- Trump attempted to steer almost every topic back to immigration, and took the opportunity to mock some of the president's stumbles.
Editor's note: This story was previously a live blog and has been updated.
Vice President Kamala Harris said Biden had a "slow start" during the debate, but a "strong finish." She delivered an impassioned defense of the president after his shaky performance, Axios' Erin Doherty writes.
- Harris argued that Biden's 90-minute debate performance should not overshadow his "three and a half years of performance," as she sought to pivot to what's at stake in November.
- She slammed former President Trump for repeatedly lying during the debate, failing to disavow the Jan. 6 attack and refusing to commit to accepting the election results.
"It was a slow start, that's obvious to everyone," Harris told CNN, before pivoting: "I'm talking about the choice in November."
Biden's debate performance is once again raising the question of whether Democrats will try to replace him on the ticket, Axios' Stef Kight and Stephen Neukam report.
Why it matters: Such a move would be difficult, divisive, and require Biden himself deciding to drop from the race.
🖼️ The big picture: Biden already has almost all of the pledged delegates at the Democratic National Convention because of state primaries he has won. Those delegates must vote for Biden on the first ballot unless he withdraws beforehand.
- Reality check: It's incredibly unlikely that Biden agrees to step aside as the Democratic candidate.
