The View cohosts call for Joe Biden to step down after 'worrisome' debate: 'Stunningly worse than I expected'

The View cohosts have changed course — and are urging President Joe Biden to do the same — when it comes to the 2024 presidential election.

After Biden's performance in Thursday night's debate against Donald Trump was universally derided by both sides of the political divide, the ladies of the morning talk show brought to the Hot Topics table an impassioned call for the 81-year-old to step down and let another Democrat take his place in facing off against Trump in November.

"Most of us are in mourning," Sunny Hostin said at the top of Friday morning's episode, and while Joy Behar — also 81 — pointed out that "Trump lied dozens of times in a nice, clear voice," the cohosts still pushed for Biden to give up his spot in the race after playing clips of the current president stumbling over his words and losing his train of thought during Thursday night's matchup.

"It kind of pains me to say this today, but I think President Biden needs to step down and be replaced if we want to defeat Donald Trump in November," Sara Haines said, also urging Democrats to stop "twisting the age issue" by making excuses for Biden.

"I think Biden's team saw it coming," she continued. "I think that's why they pushed for an earlier debate, so they'd have time to change course if needed, but they've got to act fast. I'd implore those closest to the president to have those very hard conversations they're going to need to have. Not just for political ramifications, for humanity, for integrity, and for his legacy. That's all on the line right now."

Republican cohost Alyssa Farah Griffin, who previously worked for Trump's communications team before resigning in 2020 and subsequently speaking out against the dangers of a second Trump presidency, said she was "genuinely in shock" watching the debate, and called it "stunningly worse" than she expected it to be.

"Donald Trump was a mess. He lied his way through it, but Joe Biden's performance was so bad that it eclipsed everything that Donald Trump said," the 35-year-old observed. "He needs to put country before his own ambition and he needs to step aside and pass the baton."

Legal expert Hostin admitted that "Biden lost the debate" and speculated that "maybe he needs to go" and "maybe he needs to he honest with himself and the American people," citing that "he can bow out at this time with grace and dignity [because] he has a record he can be proud of."

Griffin's fellow Republican panelist criticized Biden's "worrisome" performance as well, saying she's "never seen Joe Biden like" she saw him perform at the debate, but her support for him is unwavering.

"Until Joe Biden tells me he's giving up, I'm not giving up on Joe Biden. To me, the binary choice remains the same. He looked elderly yesterday, he sounded elderly, he is elderly, but the choice is no different. It's a very old man versus a very bad man," Ana Navarro stressed. "I'm not going to judge Joe Biden on 90 bad minutes, I'm going to judge Joe Biden on his lifetime career of putting this country first."

Griffin also appeared Thursday night on CNN, where she serves as a regular on-air commentator, to analyze the debate live from Atlanta. She strongly criticized Biden's performance on the network, and even used her X (formerly Twitter) account to call for the president to step aside before the November election. She ultimately called the debate a "sad night" for the country, and noted that Biden would show true leadership if he accepted "when to step aside" so that Democrats could win the political contest.

"If Biden truly believes democracy is on the line, he should step aside and let another Democrat step in to take on Trump," Griffin posted, joining a wealth of other celebrities who lambasted the debate online, including John Cusack and former View cohost Meghan McCain. "Put the country first," Griffin continued.

"I have been shunned, called a traitor to my family, disinvited places because I kept sounding the alarm Joe Biden is too old to be President," McCain tweeted Friday morning. "I will never forgive the media and DNC propagandists for putting Americans in this position and signaling to our enemies how weak we are."

On Thursday, Behar called out Griffin during The View's live broadcast, after the latter speculated that Biden having a potential "senior moment" during the debate might have disastrous impacts on his campaign.

Biden's age has previously come up as a point of contention on the talk show, frequently with Behar pushing back against critics who've spoken out against the president's age.

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"Joe Biden and I are the same age. Would you say I could not do my job for the next four years? Of course I can," Behar said on the show in February 2023. "And the haters can go stick their heads in something, because I'm not moving out of this seat."

In March of this year, Griffin joked that Biden outperformed expectations during his State of the Union address "by not tipping over at the dais" amid the broadcast.

The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.