Guests at the Old Town Pour House watch a debate between President Joe Biden and presumptive Republican nominee former President Donald Trump on June 27, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. | Scott Olson/Getty Images
President Joe Biden had a lousy debate last week, which was Christmas morning for pundits and panicked Democrats alike.
Particularly in the first half-hour, the president’s scratchy voice (which, at times, was barely audible) and his almost mummy-like appearance on screen were overpowered by former President Donald Trump’s machine-gun spray of lies.
The ex-president got an unintentional assist, if we’re being generous, from the veteran CNN anchors “moderating” the debate who developed a severe allergy to fact-checking even the most basic bunk (like Trump claiming he had nothing to do with the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, riots). Jake Tapper and Dana Bash also ignored Project 2025, which outlines the plan for authoritarianism in precise detail if Trump wins a second term, and even declined to ask about his 34 felony convictions, as though that would be impolite.
To his credit, Biden did hammer Trump over his criminal record and even he lobbed the bomb that he was “having sex with a porn star … while your wife was pregnant” — which clearly dazed Trump, who then, of course, lied that he didn’t.
Failing to call out egregious and constant lies is just journalistic malpractice, especially when we’ve all had nine years of covering Trump. We all know his m.o. and there’s no excuse to allow a candidate to bluff his way through a job interview to be the leader of the free world.
Journalists, talking heads and politicos watch debates very differently than normal people do. While seasoned pros winced at every flubbed word and Biden’s specter-like profile under the glare of TV lights, it would seem that undecided voters and soft partisans were less hot and bothered.
– Susan J. Demas
Quite predictably, however, the story of the night wasn’t Trump’s unadulterated stream of bullsh–t on crime, taxes, immigrants, abortion and more. Naturally, it was pundits pummeling Biden’s lackluster performance and crowing that it confirmed their previous carping about his age.
The truth is, most of them never particularly cared for Biden. There was always the usual crass elitism that he wasn’t a product of the Ivy League (watch them roll their eyes every time he invokes his hardscrabble hometown of Scranton), but more recently, there’s naked frustration that his workmanlike administration has failed to produce the nonstop leaks and juicy scandals that made his irascible, bumbling predecessor so much more entertaining (to them).
The chattering classes’ crackup was followed, in short order, by the complete meltdown of Democratic strategists, who all but threatened to commit seppuku on live television.
CNN hosted a fact-free debate. The losers are U.S. voters
What you have to remember is that Dems are always in a state of bedwetting. I recall Dem officials bemoaning that Barack Obama was getting too cocky in Michigan and was blowing it back in 2008 (the year he won the state by 16 points). So having a presidential candidate botch a debate causes their collective bladders to hit Defcon 1.
The melodrama reached its logical apex with the editorial board of the New York Times — whose stars and editors have seethed over Biden snubbing them — calling on the president to end his “reckless gamble” of a campaign.
“There are Democratic leaders better equipped to present clear, compelling and energetic alternatives to a second Trump presidency. … It’s too big a bet to simply hope Americans will overlook or discount Mr. Biden’s age and infirmity that they see with their own eyes,” the editorial intoned.
This was quickly followed by analysts tripping over themselves to make the case for anyone but Kamala Harris — the nation’s first Black, Asian-American and female vice president — with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Illinois Gov. J.B. Prtizker and yes, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer leading the informal straw poll.
Why anyone who claims to have any expertise in politics believes it’s a smart move to shove aside Harris and risk alienating African-American women — the base of the Democratic Party — is beyond me.
Anyway, here’s your reality check from a mostly retired pundit. Yes, Biden had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad debate.
That would be far more concerning if he was regularly giving wan performances like he did on Thursday night (and no, not in heavily edited clips circulating in right-wing media). But the president hasn’t, and, in fact, delivered a barnburner of a speech in North Carolina on Friday, prompting many of us to ask: Where was that guy at the debate?
Biden has also presided over the world’s strongest economy, beating all expectations after the pandemic, has helped keep international alliances together to support Ukraine during Russia’s barbaric invasion, got the biggest climate bill in history through Congress, repealed a slew of Trump’s executive orders targeting immigrants and LGBTQ+ people and much more.
That’s a pretty good record for an old guy — and yes, his decades of experience are a big reason why he’s been able to get so much done.
So will the debate matter? Nobody knows.
Pennsylvania reacts: Gov. Shapiro comes to Biden’s defense following ‘bad debate’
Journalists, talking heads and politicos watch debates very differently than normal people do. While seasoned pros winced at every flubbed word and Biden’s specter-like profile under the glare of TV lights, it would seem that undecided voters and soft partisans were less hot and bothered. Yes, initial polling shows more concern about the president’s age and mental fitness, but he’s still ahead in some surveys.
It’s also true that the Monday morning quarterbacking in traditional and social media ends up shaping debate narratives. Even if you initially thought Biden seemed kinda old but OK, you might start to feel differently after seeing Democrats freak out on cable news or consuming a constant stream of Tiktoks swearing he’s got the dementia.
We won’t know about the real impact for awhile — although it should be noted that Twitter (yes, it will always be Twitter) is designed to blow up every single thing as the turning point in campaigns — when most of them are memory-holed within a couple days.
Will Biden step aside?
That seems highly unlikely. He just scored a post-debate fundraising haul of $27 million (his latest fundraising ask takes a shot at “self-important Podcasters” for good measure).
Should he?
To me, that seems like a tremendous gamble that could result in yet another chaotic Democratic National Convention in Chicago, replete with disruptions from leftist activists, resulting in an irreparably divided party and donors sitting on their hands.
Now there is a fair argument that a younger nominee could make a more forceful case against Trump and overtake him in the polls. Most analysts, however, seem fixated on the tantalizing prospect of a much more interesting race to yap about for the next four months.
And the truth is, most pundits don’t just want to be listened to. They genuinely think they should be in charge. Being able to push a presidential out of the race is probably the most power they can hope to achieve. So the anti-Biden drumbeat from the disproportionately white, wealthy and male media types — who likely will be far less impacted by a second Trump regime than most — will continue apace, even if they should probably touch grass.
The best way to characterize the race at the moment is with a shrug emoji. Yes, that’s enormously dissatisfying — especially when too many of us naïvely look to polls and pundits to predict the future — but that’s where we’re at.
But here’s what I do know. It is patently absurd to have major newspapers and politicos demanding that Biden exit the race when they never said boo after Trump declared he was running again less than two years after attempting to foment a coup, after he was found liable for raping and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, after he was ordered to pay $454 million in a civil fraud case or after he was found guilty of almost three dozen felonies in a hush money cased tied to the 2016 election.
How any of that is less disqualifying than looking old and sick at one debate is the biggest example of pundit brain I’ve ever seen.
There’s only one man who should unequivocally drop out of the race. Anyone who tells you that it’s not Donald Trump is trying to sell you something.
Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and X.
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