Jill Biden has been accused of treating her husband like a toddler after she praised him for ‘answering all the questions’ during his disastrous CNN debate with Donald Trump last night.
The 81-year-old US President’s wife helped him on to stage at a ‘Let’s Go Joe’ event in Atlanta where she then appeared to baby him about how well he had performed against his rival.
Experts are calling for him to stand aside and let someone else fight Trump in November – with some friends and supporters claiming that it is Jill Biden who should tell her husband to throw in the towel.
But at a rally last night in Georgia, Jill praised him in a toe-curling exchange where Joe appeared almost childlike and her husband later told journalists in a Waffle House that he will stand in November.
Holding a microphone but addressing him directly, Mrs Biden told him: ‘Joe, you did such a great job answering every question. You knew all the facts’.
His crowd of supporters, who had watched the debate, then cheered wildly and chanted that Trump ‘told lies’ throughout.
Viewers couldn’t believe their eyes during the exchange, described by one Democrat as being like a mother offering their child ‘two scoops of ice cream instead of one’. Another said: ‘This intro of Joe by Jill sounds like a mom congratulating her toddler for using the potty for the first time’.
President Joe Biden, left, and first lady Jill Biden visit a presidential debate watch party after the CNN head-to-head with Trump
Jill Biden addressed her husband and said: “Joe, you did such a great job. You answered every question.”
Mr Biden is now facing calls to stand aside – and Jill Biden has been urged to tell her husband to allow someone else to stand
At times, President Biden looked blankly into the camera or down at his notes (pictured) while Trump was speaking
President Joe Biden, from second left, and first lady Jill Biden, walk off stage at the conclusion of a presidential debate
It after a ‘disorientated’ Joe Biden put in a disastrous performance during a 90-minute head-to-head with Donald Trump last night – sending the Democratic party into total panic and raising the spectre that he could be replaced as candidate for the 2024 general election.
The two oldest presidential candidates ever went into battle but Mr Biden quickly lost his way, mumbling and stumbling over his words in a dismal performance on CNN last night.
Mr Trump was seen pulling faces of shock as his rival lost his train of thought and again appeared to freeze – and at one point he told the millions watching across America: ‘I really don’t know what he [Biden] just said’.
At times, Mr Biden looked blankly into the camera or down at his notes while Trump was speaking. He was also hoarse from the moment the debate started and it went down hill from there.
Trump’s team has already sought to capitalise on the TV disaster and has released a video compiling all Biden’s mumbling and bumbling in a video entitled: ‘Needless to say, the drugs didn’t work’.
Experts have described the debate disaster as a ‘DEFCON 1 moment’ for the Democrats. Behind the scenes there are calls to replace the 81-year-old president on the ticket after his dismal showing – even with five months to go.
Afterwards Mr Biden and his acolytes including California Governor Gavin Newsom said that he had won the debate. Biden went to a Waffle House with his wife Jill where he said: ‘I think it went well’. But Biden’s gamble that the debate with Donald Trump would boost his stuttering re-election campaign has failed.
And former senior advisor to President Barack Obama, David Axelrod, conceded that Biden’s first performance was damaging – right from the beginning – and the 90-minutes has shaken liberal America.
‘I think there was a sense of shock actually how he came out at the beginning of the debate, how his voice sounded, he seemed a little disoriented,’ he said on CNN, noting there would be ‘discussions’ in the party after the debate about whether Biden should continue his run for reelection.
Commentator and former Clinton administration official Jamie Metzl tweeted afterwards: ‘Joe Biden is my former boss. I love him and respect him deeply. He has made a tremendous contribution to our country. His greatest act of patriotism must now be to pass the torch to a new generation’.
After Biden lost his train of thought at one point and stared ahead blankly, Donald Trump said: ‘I really don’t know what he just said’
President Joe Biden participates in the CNN presidential debate
US President Joe Biden (C) and US First Lady Jill Biden visit a Waffle House in Marietta, Georgia after the disastrous debate, where he said he had won
Mr Biden has been heavily criticised for his performance during the debate – but he insists he was the winner
Axelrod said that Biden’s performance confirmed people’s fears about his age and ability to serve another four years.
Biden also struggled at times to finish his sentences or complete a talking point before trying to move on.
CNN moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash repeatedly reminded him to use the rest of his time, when he cut his answers and responses to Trump short.
Kate Bedingfeld, a former White House communications director for Joe Biden also panned the performance from her former boss.
‘It was a really disappointing debate performance from Joe Biden,’ she said. ‘I don’t think there is any other way to slice it.’
Activist and CNN commentator Van Jones said that even though he ‘loved’ Joe Biden, he described the debate as ‘painful.’
‘There are people who are going to want to see him consider taking a different course now,’ Van Jones said. ‘We’re still far from our convention and there is time for this party to figure out a different way forward if he will allow us to do that but that was not what we needed from Joe Biden.’
Other Democratic strategists not connected with the Biden campaign agreed.
President Joe Biden fumbled for words in the debate
President Joe Biden, second right, and first lady Jill Biden, right, greet CNN event moderators Dana Bash, from left, and Jake Tapper
Donald Trump speaks during the debate in Atlanta
US President Joe Biden and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump participate in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections
Biden’s feeble debate performance will be welcomed by his rival Donald Trump
Joe Biden and Jill Biden attend as supporters greet the president with a light display showing Georgians love for Joe Biden at his debate watch party at Hyatt Regency Atlanta
‘I don’t know if high-level conversations are happening right now about Biden’s concerning performance, but it would be political malpractice to pretend tonight advanced the Biden campaign,’ wrote MSNBC contributor and Democratic strategist Max Burns on social media.
Other Democrats reacted anonymously to reporters to signal their shock about Biden’s performance.
Prominent Democrat texts: ‘Gavin please…’ wrote New York Times reporter Kenneth Vogel.
CNN host Kasie Hunt wrote on social media that Democrats were ‘nearly beside themselves watching this debate’ after coming to terms with Biden’s demeanor.
She detailed texts from prominent Democrats on CNN.
‘If I was Gavin (Newsom) or Gretchen (Whitmer), I’d be making calls tonight,’ one Democrat told her. Another wrote simply ‘we are f***d.’
Other Democrats voiced their panic on social media, urging the party to be honest about their chances.
One woman watched the debate with her hand clasped to her mouth at Shaws Tavern in Washington, DC
People watch the CNN presidential debate between U.S. President Joe Biden and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump
Some of those watching the debate were playing bingo with themes they thought would come up
‘Texts from family and friends, all Democrats who despise Trump, are extremely concerning. You cannot just spin this and ignore the fact that this is not going well for our side,’ wrote former New York City council member Jimmy Van Bramer on social media.
MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace said the conversation about replacing Biden was ‘live and active at the highest levels of the Democratic party.’
MSNBC’s Joy Reid agreed, noting her phone was buzzing throughout the debate from texts from Democrats.
‘The universal reaction was somewhere approaching panic,’ she said, adding they were ‘very concerned’ about Biden appearing feeble and weak.
Biden spokesman Andrew Bates reacted on social media by dismissing hand-wringing Democrats.
‘We have plenty of experience offering backbone transplants,’ he wrote, praising Biden for making a ‘strong argument for his vision’ during the debate.
Jill Biden led Joe Biden off stage after his debate debacle on Thursday night while Melania Trump broke decades of tradition by not showing up.
Donald Trump was left to exit solo after resoundingly defeating Joe Biden in the debate.
The president, who sounded hoarse and fumbled repeatedly as he searched for words, took comfort from his wife in the aftermath.
Jill Biden walked out on stage to hug and kiss her husband after the event ended.
But in another awkward moment for the President, he was seen struggling to climb down the stairs to speak to moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper.
It was an unfortunate final image to cap off a night that sparked Democratic meltdown that the president will need to be replaced on the ballot. Senior Democratic leaders are reported to be having conversations about replacing him. The general sense is one of panic.
Biden froze in the first 12 minutes of the debate, leaving Democrats into a panic about the state of their candidate.
While Jill Biden was at her husband’s side, Melania Trump was nowhere to be seen.
Jill Biden helped Joe Biden leave the debate stage
The Trump campaign remained silent when asked if the former first lady would attend the first presidential showdown.
Officials said it would be revealed at the debate.
As many predicted, she never appeared.
The former president arrived in Atlanta solo on Trump Force One – and left the same way.
It was a remarkable break in tradition.
Melania Trump did attend all debates in the 2016 and 2020 election cycles.
‘Families started attending the debates regularly in 1976 and it would be pretty shocking for the wife of a candidate to break that tradition,’ presidential historian Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky said.
Her absence follows a reports she may not live in Washington D.C. fulltime if her husband wins a second term in the White House.
Those close to the former first lady believe she will likely split her time between Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, and New York City – especially with Barron, 18, tipped to attend New York University
Melania would instead only travel to Washington, D.C. for ceremonial responsibilities like state dinners and other special events.
Her office did not respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com about the report.
Melania Trump, seen voting with Donald Trump in March, did not attend the debate
Donald Trump walks of Trump Force One solo when he arrived in Atlanta
‘They have drawn a curtain of privacy’ around her, said MaryAnne Borrell, a bipartisan professor of Government at Connecticut College.
Public sightings of Melania are rare, particularly when it comes to Donald Trump’s attempt to win a second term in the White House.
Six months into 2024 she has yet to appear at a campaign rally for her husband. She did not appear at a June 14th birthday party for Donald Trump organized by his fan club.
Melania Trump has rarely showed public support for her husband as he seeks a second term in the White House.
She joined Trump when he announced his 2024 presidential bid in November of last year. But, otherwise, she only appeared at one fundraiser for his campaign and went to vote with her husband in Florida‘s primary.
‘Stay tuned,’ she told reporters when asked if she’d campaign for Trump.
The key moments in the CNN debate
Glitches and fumbles
But it was Biden’s struggle to find answers that will leave a lasting impression on voters, who have repeatedly questioned the 81-year-old’s staminia and mental capacities.
At multiple times in the night, in several answers on different topics, Biden fumbled.
Democrats were reportedly in meltdown as it happened across tens of millions of American television screens.
The mistakes continued to pile up.
Trump addressed Biden’s policy arguments rather than hammer him on the vocal fumbles as he has done in the past.
The former president has repeatedly called Biden ‘Sleepy Joe’ and mocked him as feeble and mentally addled.
Biden kept fumbling in his next answers as he spoke about abortion rights and women’s health.
‘There was a young woman murdered … he went to the funeral.
‘The idea she was murdered by an immigrant, they talk about that. A lot of young women get raped by in-laws, spouses, brothers. It’s ridiculous and they do nothing about it.’
Donald Trump commented ‘I don’t know what he said’ in reference to Biden’s fumbles
And he fumbled in his claims about the wealthy in America. ‘We have a thousand trillionaires in America’ and then corrected himself to ‘billionaires.’
Biden also rambled as he touted his efforts to secure a bipartisan border deal that fell apart in Congress when asked about his attempts to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.
‘We had significant increase in number of asylum officers significantly. By the way the Border Patrol been endorsed me, endorsed my position. In addition to that we find ourselves in a situation where when he was president he was taking separating babies from their mothers put him in cages,’ Biden said.
Trump finally chose to highlight the faltering President, answering: ‘I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either,’ the former president noted.
Alley Cats and Porn Stars
One of the more jaw-dropping moments of the night was when the two men got into verbal fisticuffs about Trump’s legal problems.
Biden had attacked Trump on reports the former president was seeking retribution.
And he hit Trump on his conviction in New York on 34 felony counts related to his payoff to porn storm Stormy Daniels. Trump has denied an affair with her and argues the conviction stemmed from a campaign of political retribution against him.
‘The only person in this stage is a convicted felon as the man I’m looking at right now,’ Biden said.
Porn star Stormy Daniels
Trump hit back by noting Biden’s son Hunter was convicted of three felonies related to a 2018 gun purchase.
‘We’re going to make this country successful again, because right now it’s a failing nation. My retribution is going to be success. But when he talks about a convicted felon, his son is a convicted felon. At a very high level. His son is convicted,’ Trump said.
‘We’d have a system that was rigged and disgusting. I did nothing wrong,’ he said..
Biden then brought up his reported affair with the low blow that it allegedly happened when Melania Trump was pregnant with Barron.
‘The crimes you are still charged with and think of all the civil penalties you have – how many billions of dollars in civil penalties for molesting a woman of public, for doing a whole range of things, of having sex with a porn star on the night while your wife is pregnant?,’ he said, adding: ‘You have the morals of an alley cat.’
‘I didn’t have sex with a porn star number one,’ Trump responded. ‘Number two, that was a case that was started and moved. They moved a high ranking official at DOJ into the Manhattan DA ‘s office to start that case. That case is going to be appealed and one we had a very terrible judge.
He also noted ‘my poll numbers went up way up you know … and we took in more money in the last two weeks than we’ve ever taken in the history of any campaign. I don’t think any campaign has ever taken hundreds of millions of dollars came pouring in. Because the public knows it’s a scam.’
‘Suckers and losers’
The two men got into a heated attack when it came to talking about the military.
Biden slammed Trump for reports the former president called dead American soldiers ‘suckers’ and ‘losers.’
‘My son was not a loser, was not a sucker. You’re the sucker you’re the loser,’ Biden said.
‘They made it up,’ Trump replied. ‘We had 19 people that said I didn’t say it.’
He then called on Biden to apologize to him.
‘He made up the suckers and losers so he should apologize to be right now.’
Biden hit back hard.
‘The idea I have to apologize to you for anything,’ he said.
Both men struggled with the debate rules they agreed to that saw their microphones muted when it was not their turn to talk. Each of them, at points, tried to speak only to find themselves unable to be heard.
The Economy
Biden attacked Trump from the start as he was asked to defend him economic record, hitting him on his suggestion that Americans inject themselves with bleach during COVID.
He said Trump left him an ‘economy that was in freefall – the pandemic was so badly handled, many people were dying.’
‘By the time he left are things that are in chaos literally chaos. And so we put things back together,’ he said.
Trump hit back, arguing he left a strong economy until covid hit and then spent funds to keep the country from spiralling into a depression.
‘Everything was rocking good,’ he said.
‘The only jobs he created are for illegal immigrants and bounce-back jobs that are bounced back from the covid. He has not done a good job. He’s done a poor job – inflation’s killing our country. It is absolutely killing us,’ he said.
The two men did not shake hands after they entered the stage, Biden arriving first and then Trump. They simply stood at their podiums, starting straight ahead.
Donald Trump and Joe Biden at the first presidential debate
A presidential motorcade in Atlanta
The Rules
It is the first of two debates the two presidential candidates agreed to.
The two men are on stage with only a pad, pencil and a bottle of water, without the assist of the teleprompter and will not be allowed to chat with aides during commercial breaks.
The microphones are muted automatically when it is not their turn to speak.
There is no audience in the room – just the debate’s two moderators.
First lady Jill Biden is the only member of the president’s family there. She is watching the debate from a holding room and will stop by a debate watch party with Biden after the event concludes.
Each man came into the debate with a different set of expectations.
For the 81-year-old Biden, it comes down to his health and fitness. He needs to be energetic and on point with his talking points. Republicans have successfully used his age to raise questions about his mental capabilities. And Biden looks as if he’s aged, walking with a gait and moving stiffly.
The president, who likes briefing binders and practice sessions, spent the week holed up at Camp David preparing for the debate with close aides. His appearance at the debate is the first time he was seen in public since June 20th.
He will try to throw Trump off with attack lines designed to sting the former president on a personal level. Biden will also focus on reminding voters of some of Trump’s more extreme policies.
Trump, meanwhile, eschewed formal practice sessions. He tried out new attack lines at various campaign rallies but otherwise kept a low profile.
The question remains which Trump will show up at the debate: the loud, talkative, disruptive one who can devolve into rants or a more restrained Trump, who will stay focused during the 90 minutes on stage.