Alarm bells sounded in Richard Case’s head Thursday night as he watched President Joe Biden struggle mightily to get through his debate with former President Donald Trump.
“He came out lackluster with no energy, and that lack of energy lasted throughout the entire debate,” Case, a South Fulton resident, said of Biden following Capital B Atlanta’s watch party event at Wild Heaven Beer West End Brewery. “He looked like he wasn’t even coherent in what he was saying.”
Indeed, many Democrats’ worst fears about Biden’s age and mental fitness were realized by the 81-year-old president’s debate performance in Atlanta. The oldest person ever to serve as commander-in-chief repeatedly slurred his words, struggled to finish sentences, and stared slack-jawed at Trump on stage as his predecessor gave dubious answers to questions from CNN’s two debate moderators.
Biden’s performance was enough to spur frustration among some Black voters, who are among Biden’s and the Democratic Party’s most ardent supporters.
Voters who spoke with Capital B after the debate expressed disappointment in the president, who some still believe is their best hope to keep Trump from returning to the White House despite a lackluster showing on Thursday. Others questioned whether Biden should step down less than two months before his party’s nominating convention.
Some Biden backers rallied their wagons around the president anyway. They include state Rep. Derrick Jackson of Tyrone, who said Georgia Democrats he spoke to after the debate were divided on whether Biden should still be the party’s nominee.
Jackson was at the Democratic Party’s debate watch party inside the Hyatt Hotel’s grand ballroom downtown when Biden joined the festivities after the debate. He said Biden told him he had a cold, and noted that the president had spent all day Thursday meeting with Georgia leaders and citizens but still had enough stamina to take on Trump and attend the watch party afterward.
“This was certainly not a demonstration of a president with a lack of energy,” Jackson said.
“Some were calling for Biden to step down before the debate,” Jackson pointed out. “I don’t weigh their opinion that much.”
West Midtown resident Kesiena Ubiedi said she’d still support Biden over Trump because she feels more confident in the team behind the current president. The 27-year-old clinical systems analyst was one of several people who said both Trump and Biden appeared unfit to hold office.
“Both were not in a position where I would feel comfortable being like, ‘Yes, this is the leader of my country,’” Ubiedi said.
Case, who voted for Biden in 2020, suggested replacing him at the top of the ticket with someone like former first lady Michelle Obama or U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. His remarks echoed sentiments expressed by many fellow Democrats on cable news and social media.
“I think the needle probably moved in Trump’s direction, just being objective,” Case admitted. “But I think there’s time to change it back into the column for the Democrats. The way to do that, probably at this time — based on what I saw here today — is to go to convention and look at nominating somebody else.”
But Jackson said it’s too late to change course on Biden now, with the November election less than five months away. He noted that when Democrats angry about the Vietnam War forced Lyndon B. Johnson to step down in 1968, the party’s replacement, Hubert Humphrey, ended up losing to Richard Nixon.
“We would truly lose if President Biden stepped down now,” Jackson said.
Tre Riddle and his wife, Stephanie, were among many who said they’re not ready to bail on Biden yet. Stephanie Riddle, a self-described independent, acknowledged Biden appeared old and stumbled verbally throughout his remarks, but she said the substance of Biden’s answers were better than Trump’s.
“He was still able to express and share enough of what he’s done … and then share what he’s going to do,” she said of Biden. “Just because [Trump] was able to express himself clearly, he still wasn’t saying anything.”
Tre Riddle, who works as a political consultant and admitted being “biased” in favor of Biden, said voters should be more concerned with how Biden’s record in office compares with Trump’s than how the president looked and sounded on a debate stage.
“He’s got a record of accomplishment of success,” Tre Riddle said of Biden.
