Democrats and left-wing journalists entered full-blown panic mode following the first presidential debate in the 2024 rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

The debate was defined by Biden delivering raspy, mumbling answers, while hurling personal insults and false claims at the former president.

Trump, who is known for usually being hyper and combative, appeared to benefit significantly from CNN’s debate format in which there was no audience for him to feed off of and microphones were turned off, which stopped him from interrupting Biden.

Biden was forced to stumble around his own mind in a quiet, empty room as he searched for answers. Trump largely was able to stand there and smile and Biden wilted numerous times under pressure.

Former Left-wing CNN blogger Chris Cillizza posted: “Look. This debate was a total and complete disaster for Biden. He looked old. His answers trailed off repeatedly. He was hard to understand. He would stop in mid sentence and move on to something else. I NEVER thought he would be this bad. Stunning. Truly.”

Maria Shriver, a member of the Kennedy family, posted on X: “I love Joe Biden. I know he’s a good man. I know his heart is good. I know he’s dedicated to our country and is surrounded by good people. Tonight was heartbreaking in many ways. This is a big political moment. There’s panic in the Democratic party. It’s going to be a long night.”

Journalist Yashar Ali posted on X: “I am in multiple large group texts with Democratic operatives, elected officials, staffers, and donors. Not one of them feels good about Biden’s performance tonight in terms of style, his voice etc. And these are people who aggressively defend him.”

Amy Walter, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, Cook Political Report, posted: “Remember, the whole reason Biden wanted this debate was to show a contrast with Trump and to make this a referendum on Trump. Instead, only thing we’re talking about is Biden’s poor performance.”

CNN host Kasie Hunt highlighted Biden’s appearance: “The voice, open-mouthed look, and visual contrast between President Biden and former President Trump all have Democrats I’m talking to nearly beside themselves watching this debate.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof posted: “I wish Biden would reflect on this debate performance and then announce his decision to withdraw from the race, throwing the choice of Democratic nominee to the convention. Someone like @gretchenwhitmer or @SherrodBrown or @SecRaimondo could still jump in and beat Trump.”

Journalist Ben Jacobs said that the most “sanguine” Democrat that he spoke to tonight said: “I understand much like Biden[,] there was no path to replace him with anyone not named Kamala and in this state he’s better than her.”

Former Democrat presidential and mayoral candidate Andrew Yang said that it was time to remove Biden from the ticket.

“Look I debated Joe 7 times in 2020. He’s a different guy in 2024,” he posted on X. “#swapJoeout”