Former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill was beside herself last night. Joe Biden was demolished by Donald Trump, which was shocking though unsurprising. Biden spent almost a week at Camp David, preparing with top staffers for this critical showdown with the former president. And Biden failed spectacularly. The president couldn’t defend his record, nor could he land any punches against Trump, who was in command and more cogent than Biden at any point.
Biden’s age, a source of irritation for Democrats, the media, and White House staff, was exposed to the nation, and there’s no spinning it. The president was detached and incoherent and fumbled some of the debate's easiest questions. Abortion is one of Biden’s top action items—he couldn’t muster a coherent answer when Roe v. Wade was the topic.
Watch this assessment by @clairecmc on @MSNBC. All 4 minutes. pic.twitter.com/WNFhOKEjG2
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 28, 2024
McCaskill spoke at length about being a surrogate and why she would want nothing more than to be one in this election. But her job right now is to be honest, and she was blunt in her assessment that Biden failed to show that he could serve as president at his age.
“He had one thing he had to accomplish, and that was reassure America that he was up to the job at his age, and he failed at that tonight,” she said. The Missouri liberal also noted that it’s not good that at the end of a debate, all the attention was directed toward the vice president and Gavin Newsom regarding why they aren’t running or can be viewed as possible replacements.
Of course, she directed nasty remarks toward Trump, adding that the former president is so terrible that maybe the wounds of this awful debate heal themselves, but that’s unlikely. She concluded that “there is a lot more than handwringing tonight.” Top Democrats in elected office are wondering if the party is now confronting a crisis.
Last note, senator, that bit about how we got here. You mean you, right? You and the rest of the Democratic Party because we all saw this coming.
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