The "substance" of last night's CNN presidential debate -- to the extent that it was substantive at all -- was quickly rendered largely irrelevant. Within the opening minutes of the event, viewers witnessed an elderly incumbent president who is clearly incapable of doing this job for another four years. Period. When he spoke, he did so haltingly and in a frail voice, his syntax often mangled, occasionally veering into incoherence. The president disappeared for nearly a week to rest and prepare for this moment, and the result spoke for itself. The "senior moment" his party so feared arrived early:
President Biden froze and then had a verbal blunder, saying he “beat Medicare,” minutes after he kicked off his debate with former President Donald Trump on Thursday pic.twitter.com/enAH0xG13a
— New York Post (@nypost) June 28, 2024
A short time later, Trump landed the line of the night:
This was physically painful to watch. https://t.co/MDmxxYQM4N
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) June 28, 2024
When Biden wasn't talking, the optics may have been even worse. Biden stared into the void, frozen, vacant. It was as if he'd been transported somewhere else, somewhere far away. By the time CNN's moderators (who did a solid job, in my view) got around to questions about age, Biden's answer didn't matter. He'd already answered it over the previous hour-plus of the forum. In the post-game analysis, the Democrat-friendly media didn't try to spin or sugarcoat Biden's performance. There were no cries of "cheap fakes" or intensive gaslighting. They mourned. They emoted. They expressed fear. They informed us that the Democratic Party had entered a panicked meltdown. They appeared, very much, to be setting the groundwork to try to force Biden out of the race. Soon. They very well might. Much of the post-debate "analysis" felt like a political eulogy. But others are already circling the wagons and basically demanding that the 'bed-wetters' face reality and rally behind Biden regardless.
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After Special Counsel Robert Hur's report was released, I asked whether Biden's party could go forward with him. They circled the wagons, they lied, they deflected. This time, it's all out in the open, and there's nowhere to hide. Many of the people pretending to be stunned by how the president looked and sounded onstage have been the ones calling the rest of us cruel and dishonest for simply noticing reality. Reality has now caught up with them, and they have a very tight window and a boatload of logistical obstacles to change horses mid-race:
40 days https://t.co/fRP71JTPYe
— Dan Ornelas (@DanielMOrnelas) June 28, 2024
As for Trump, he had some very good moments, parrying a number Biden attacks deftly and powerfully. He mostly stayed on his major themes, even though he was hardly a paragon of coherent argument or responsiveness himself. Like his opponent, his relationship with factual accuracy and the truth is, shall we say, strained. Given the optics at play on the other side of the stage, Trump simply had to not self-immolate to "win" the debate. He didn't, so he did. Two-thirds of CNN's snap poll respondents crowed Trump the victor. Some observers are arguing that it was Trump's best ever general election debate, and certainly a far cry from the manic debacle he produced in 2020's first meeting with Biden. The question now becomes whether the man he's been running against for seemingly endless months will actually be his opponent on the ballot in November. And if not, then who could it be -- and could it be someone other than the even-less-popular Vice President? If they can't push Biden out, they're stuck with him, and it will be awfully hard to un-ring the alarm bells they've now sounded. Tell me, does this sound like a candidate, or a candidate's spouse, getting ready to exit the race with just months to go?
Biden stops at an Atlanta Waffle House after the debate.
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) June 28, 2024
Reporter: Do you have any concerns about your performance?
Biden: No. It’s hard to debate a liar. pic.twitter.com/aMA0zeKBsP
You cannot spin that. pic.twitter.com/epawAzPXcD
— Big Fish (@BigFish3000) June 28, 2024
Buckle up. This wild, unusual election cycle could be on the brink of getting crazier. Although don't discount this very real possibility:
Reminder: There is a reasonable chance this won’t significantly impact the polling. Trump’s felony conviction didn’t; this might not either. So many sentiments — including the widespread one that Biden is too old — are baked in.
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) June 28, 2024
I'll leave you with this:
My focus group of undecided voters wants Joe Biden to step aside.
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) June 28, 2024
They like him and respect him – most voted for him in 2020. But they want him to go.
Tonight was a political earthquake. pic.twitter.com/tO0C79AQLk
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