Less than 12 hours after delivering a stilted and faltering debate performance, President Joe Biden is being defended by his campaign amid an avalanche of pleas by liberal politicians and pundits for the Democratic Party to find a new nominee.

In a statement to CNN White House correspondent Kayla Tausche, the Biden camp shrugged off accusations that the 81-year-old leader should step down ahead of the party’s national convention in August, which would provide Democrats a critical but narrow window to find an alternative. Plans haven’t changed, according to the reporter who wrote on X that a presidential advisor told her, “Not only does @POTUS not plan to drop out, Biden remains committed to a second debate in September.”

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NEW, as just reported on @CNN: Not only does @POTUS not plan to drop out, Biden remains committed to a second debate in September, an adviser tells me

— Kayla Tausche (@kaylatausche) June 28, 2024

Thursday night’s encounter between Biden and former President Donald Trump was the first of just two debates set this year and was deliberately proposed early by the Biden team on the presumption that a shaky performance would be forgotten by Election Day. The event was notable for the number of easy layups missed by Biden as Trump offered openings on a number of vulnerable fronts, including abortion, tariffs, and his economic record. Instead, Biden delivered a meandering series of responses, often mumbled or delivered in a hoarse voice; conservatives jeered when the Democrat badly botched a response to Trump on social safety programs, claiming he “beat Medicare” after struggling for what seemed like an eternity to find right words.

The second debate will be hosted by ABC on September 10th, and similar qualifications to make the stage mean it’s unlikely that Trump and Biden will be joined by independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

By then, it would be far too late for Democrats to find an alternative to Biden, and not even the entreaties from major party leaders would be enough to dissuade him from soldiering on. The Daily Mail previously reported that Democrats have prepared a strategy to force Biden from the race if his first debate performance went as badly as it did.

If negative feedback from the debate reaches a fever pitch within their party, it would be up to some of the Democrats’ top leaders to collectively force the president out of the race. “The only people who could force him out would be Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer,” one Democratic strategist told DailyMail.com. “It would have to be the four of them collectively.”

Other Democratic consultants, including Mark Penn and former Obama advisor David Axelrod, said it’s up to Biden’s team to follow through on their commitment to an early debate with a standout performance by their man. “They have deliberately thrown down the gauntlet for an early debate,” Penn said, “and I think that’s gonna be the point at which Americans judge: is he ready for another term or not.” Axelrod, who earlier this year publicly urged Biden to consider not seeking reelection for the good of the country, was sharply rebuked by the president in private.

“Biden needs to drop out. No question about it,” the high-dollar donor told the outlet.

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