Quotes
We’re still far from our convention and there is time for this party to figure out a different way forward if he will allow us to do that. But that was not what we needed from Joe Biden,
I love that guy as a good man. He loves his country. He’s doing the best that he can. But he had a test to meet tonight, to restore confidence of the country and of the base, and he failed to do that,
I cannot remember a more heartbreaking moment in American presidential campaign politics in my lifetime — precisely because of what it revealed: Joe Biden, a good man and a good president, has no business running for re-election,
Mr. Biden has been an admirable president. Under his leadership, the nation has prospered and begun to address a range of long-term challenges, and the wounds ripped open by Mr. Trump have begun to heal. But the greatest public service Mr. Biden can now perform is to announce that he will not continue to run for re-election,
The New York Times editorial board wrote Friday Was there any way to get him off the ticket? And if not, was there any chance to stagger across the finish line with a deeply flawed candidate?"
Time magazine offered a brutal post-debate assessment, posing the questions for Democrats Either way, it was nothing like what Biden and his team had plotted while secluded at the presidential retreat of Camp David in Maryland’s mountains for six full days of rehearsal in an airplane hangar and movie theater,
As President Joe Biden was going over his final notes with his inner circle and getting ready to debate Donald Trump on June 27 in Atlanta, his wife slipped into a nearby meeting of the Democratic Party’s biggest donors,
Joe, you did such a great job! You answered every question, you knew all the facts
the first lady gushed over a smiling Joe Biden on-stage We should be honest about the fact that it was a missed opportunity for President Biden, but the reality is that voters’ preferences in the election were not changed in any significant way by the debate.”
Geoff Garin, a Biden pollster who conducted a survey on the debate, told NBC News The Democrats have a whole group of outstanding people who can pick up the baton and carry it forward,
said a Biden fundraiser, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss party strategy What happened [during the debate] is that the reality became clear to us all,
a person close to the White House said There’s enough frustration and concern about her [Harris] — she has no real support — that I don’t see her path for securing the nomination,
said a Democratic source, speaking on condition of anonymity to talk freely about the vice president I’ve a very big supporter of President Biden,
The party needs to consider its options in terms of how we address our new circumstances post-debate. But we don’t have much time,
Tom Daschle, a former Senate Democratic leader, told NBC News in an interview Let’s take a deep breath and see how things develop in a week or 10 days. In the meantime, if people want to have discussions about everything from potentially having somebody else [on the ticket] to how to handle last night, maybe that should happen. But before people jump off bridges or start a draft movement, let’s take a deep breath and see how things unfold.”
Alan Kessler, a Philadelphia-based Biden fundraiser, said 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.”
Obama put out a message on X that said Whoever prepared the president for the debate should be fired,
said Dick Harpootlian, a former South Carolina Democratic Party chairman and a Biden fundraiser Anita Dunn, Jen O’Malley [Dillon] and some of these other folks that helped him prepare did a terrible job,
he said, mentioning a senior Biden White House adviser and a top campaign official, respectively Look at what happened when [Ruth Bader] Ginsburg refused to resign,
said a Democratic state party chair who requested anonymity to speak frankly There are no conversations about that whatsoever,
Michael Tyler, a campaign spokesman, told reporters Friday aboard Air Force One, when asked if Biden might step aside