Defiant Biden camp rebuffs calls to drop out, plots recovery from debate disaster

Despite a widely panned debate performance against former President Donald Trump on Thursday, President Joe Biden – and his wife – appear poised to ignore calls to drop out of the race and instead double down on his reelection bid.

The CNN presidential debate saw Biden draw considerable scrutiny from both sides of the aisle over his frequent mumblings, lengthy stares, and often vacant expressions, which collectively renewed concerns over his physical and mental fitness for office. Major news outlets pronounced doom upon his campaign even during the event, with Politico running the headline “Biden is toast” barely halfway into the debacle.

Despite such grim assessments of his debate performance, however, the campaign swiftly rejected speculation that he would drop out of the race. Such statements, however, have done nothing to curb theories that the Democratic Party may opt to replace him as the nominee via behind-the-scenes dealings.

Speaking on the Furthermore with Amanda Head podcast on Friday, former Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington insisted that the Republican would not face the incumbent president in the election.

"We're not running against Joe Biden," she said. "This is part of the whole show … like, we're beating Joe Biden? No. They're putting someone else in, and they're going to continue to lie about President Trump."

But thus far, the campaign has given little indication that Biden could decline reelection in a manner reminiscent of President Lyndon Johnson’s 1968 announcement, and few opportunities exist for the party to remove him without his consent in light of the essentially completed primary election. Instead, the first family has begun pushing back on claims of Biden’s mental frailty and seems to be gearing up for the long haul.

Biden’s family is all-in on his reelection

In the wake of the debate, the first family met at Camp David and reportedly excoriated the president’s campaign advisors and urged Biden to clean house. Reportedly in the crosshairs were political veterans former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, senior advisor Anita Dunn, and her husband Bob Bauer, according to Politico. All three played crucial roles in Biden’s debate preparations. An advisor to Biden pushed back on claims that the trio were the focus of the first family’s ire.

Among those present were Biden’s wife Jill, as well as Hunter Biden, his other children, and grandchildren. Hunter and Jill, for their part, have reportedly emerged as the strongest proponents of Biden remaining in the race, the Guardian reported.

Speaking to Vogue over the weekend, the first lady said the family “will not let those 90 minutes define the four years he’s been president. We will continue to fight.”

“I know”

The campaign appears poised to concede on Biden’s age to some degree and has instead opted to present Biden as the superior option in light of Trump’s own conduct. A recent campaign ad, titled “I know” includes an acknowledgement by Biden of his age, after which he goes on to assert that it had not impacted his sense of morality or duty.

“I know I’m not a young man. But I know how to do this job. I know right from wrong,” Biden says in the one-minute segment. “I know how to tell the truth. And I know, like millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down you get back up.”

In contrast to Biden’s statements, was footage of Trump on Jan. 6, 2021, in which he spoke to supporters who would later travel to the U.S. Capitol. Members of the crowd that gathered outside the Capitol ultimately entered unlawfully in an incident that Trump’s critics have attempted to paint as an “insurrection.” Trump denies that characterization of events.

Polling data of other candidates

Apart from insisting that Biden can remain in his post, the campaign has further taken to highlighting the adverse consequences of his withdrawal, namely the likely chaos of nominating another candidate last-minute and the loss of existing funds.

“[I]f he were to drop out, it would lead to weeks of chaos, internal foodfighting, and a bunch of candidates who limp into a brutal floor fight at the convention, all while Donald Trump has time to speak to American voters uncontested,” the campaign declared in a fundraising email. “All of that would be in service of a nominee who would go into a general election in the weakest possible position with zero dollars in their bank account. You want a highway to losing? It’s that.”

Accompanying that message was polling data from Data for Progress showing that Biden fared as well or better against Trump than any of his prospective Democratic alternatives. In that poll, conducted exclusively on June 28, among 1,011 likely U.S. voters, Trump led Biden 48% to 45%, with 7% unsure.

Among the alternative candidates were Vice President Kamala Harris, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, New Jersey Sen. Corey Booker, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker, all of whom polled similarly against Trump.

"I can tell you, you know, the polling and the numbers in the conversation suggests Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom are top of the list," pollster Scott Rasmussen told the "Just the News, No Noise" television show on Monday. "But the activist base of the Democratic Party dominates that process. If this were to be thrown open, all of a sudden, it would be a brutal, brutal fight among Democrats, those who want to get rid of Kamala Harris, because they think she's a weak candidate... it would be, you know, just the difficulty of replacing President Biden on the as the nominee would be staggering."

Democratic heavyweights: "One bad night"

Signaling that the party elite are unlikely to turn on Biden are the bevy of supportive statements from Democratic lawmakers attempting to brush off the president’s debate performance and move on to the next stage of the campaign.

“Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself,”  former President Barack Obama posted on X. “Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight — and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit. Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November.”

“I refuse to join the Democratic vultures on Biden’s shoulder after the debate. No one knows more than me that a rough debate is not the sum total of the person and their record,” posted Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn. The Pennsylvania senator notably won his own seat after a widely panned debate against then-Republican Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Other lawmakers, including Sens. Ben Cardin, D-Md.; Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.; Chris Murphy, D-Conn.; and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; all issued statements either expressing support for Biden, defending his performance in the debate, or urging him to remain in the race, The Hill reported.

Nonetheless, social media has been set ablaze with videos mocking Biden's blank stares, confused demeanor and rambling answers.

The primary has mostly concluded

“Joe Biden is going to be the Democratic nominee, period. End of story. Voters voted. He won overwhelmingly,” the campaign said in the same fundraising email that featured the polling data.

Biden is currently the presumptive party nominee, having earned 3,894 delegates across the myriad primary contests, with a further 36 uncommitted, and seven delegates pledged to other candidates. He needed 1,976 to lock up the nomination.

Beginning in January, Biden stood as a candidate in contests across the country and beat back nominal primary challenges from Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., and Hollywood guru Marianne Williamson. Local entrepreneur Jason Palmer managed to win American Samoa.

Planned virtual roll call

Complicating any effort to potentially swap Biden for another nominee at the convention is the deadline for the party to certify its nominee to appear on the ballot in all 50 states.

Democrats announced in May that they would hold a virtual roll call to formally certify Biden as the nominee in order to make Ohio’s Aug. 7 deadline to appear on the ballot. The Democratic National Convention is set for Aug. 19-22.

“Through a virtual roll call, we will ensure that Republicans can’t chip away at our democracy through incompetence or partisan tricks and that Ohioans can exercise their right to vote for the presidential candidate of their choice,” DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison said at the time.

Barring a substantive change in plans, an alternative nominee chosen at the convention would likely not be able to appear on the ballot in at least Ohio.

"The legal logistics of replacing Joe Biden are enormously complex. First of all, he's already on the ballot and a number of states that will probably have to be lawsuits to replace him on the ballot," Rasmussen also said. "Secondly, there is a convention that all of the delegates have already been or majority, the delegates have been pledged to President Biden, they have to find a way to change the rules. Now, that's happened before 1980s Ted Kennedy tried to unbind Jimmy Carter's delegates, it didn't work."

Just the News sought comment from the White House, but received no response.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X.