Exclusive
time to go
‘Entitled’ Joe Biden can’t bludgeon us into accepting ‘inexcusable’ performance after dire 9 days, says ex-Obama aide
The U.S. Sun has compiled a list of Biden's post-debate blunders
JOE Biden’s re-election bid hangs in the balance after a tumultuous week - with even former presidential advisers believing the Democrats must change course.
Brett Bruen, a former aide to President Obama, described Biden's performance in the first debate as inexcusable and the commander-in-chief has been on a week-long mission trying to convince top Democrats he remains the best man to take on Donald Trump.
6
6
Biden's week to save his campaign concluded with a sit-down interview with ABC star George Stephanopoulos.
The president refused to suspend his re-election bid and claimed no rival candidate was more qualified to do the job.
But he appeared to forget the name of the new British prime minister Keir Starmer.
And the questions surrounding his fitness for office will continue to swirl and risk intensifying ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month.
read more on election 2024
Even advisers to former presidents are now calling for the Democrats to take a different course.
“The Democrats are in a chaotic state of confusion at the moment," Bruen told The U.S. Sun.
"In short, we are in a state of ludicrous limbo that all depends on one individual who's stubbornly sticking around because he, members of his family believe out of a full sense of entitlement that this nomination is rightfully theirs."
Bruen slammed Biden's performance in Atlanta, Georgia, last Thursday, describing it as "inexcusable."
Most read in The US Sun
The debate marked a break from tradition as it took place before the party conventions.
Usually, the presidential nominees clash in a trio of debates after Labor Day.
Bumbling Joe Biden squints at watch during July 4 fireworks after telling top Dems he can't work at events after 8pm
“This was a date and place of his choosing. It’s a fundamental requirement for being commander-in-chief and you don’t get a mulligan on the presidential trail,” Bruen added.
“The notion that Biden is the only one that can deliver democracy is pure fallacy. Biden is a deeply flawed candidate.
“The truth of the matter is this man should not be our nominee because he doesn’t have the strength, doesn’t have the stamina, and doesn’t have the capacity to communicate how our party and country move forward.”
Bruen blasted Biden’s team for their preparation ahead of the car-crash showdown.
“The fact that they did not tackle him and prevent him from getting onto that debate stage is in and of itself, political malpractice,” he claimed.
Bruen slammed Biden's team for "bludgeoning" questions about the president's competence into submission.
He warned that this approach would have an adverse effect.
"Rather than acknowledging some of these issues and engaging with those who have constructive concerns, they're just trying to bulldoze their way through it," he said.
Throughout the 90-minute showdown with Trump, Biden struggled to answer questions and articulate his vision for the country.
Biden is a deeply flawed candidate.
Brett Bruen
He sounded raspy as soon as he walked onto the stage.
Biden’s team said he was suffering from a cold.
The president later claimed that he almost fell asleep and seemed to blame his schedule.
But he had been holed up at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland for an entire week.
Criticism flooded in during as well as after the debate.
Biden's post-debate gaffes
President Joe Biden's gaffes have increased at an alarming rate over the past few years.
- Biden alarmingly described himself as a "Black woman" during a radio interview with Philadelphia station WURD on Thursday.
- "I'm proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first black woman… to serve with a black president," Biden said, appearing to confuse himself with Vice President Kamala Harris.
- Biden previously served as VP to President Barack Obama, the US' first black president, which is likely the source of his confusion.
- The president also attempted to go off-script and insult rival, Donald Trump, while addressing military families during the White House's Fourth of July barbecue.
- While Biden came in strong, he fumbled his word and came crashing down.
- "By the way, you know I was at that World War I cemetery in France and a - the one that one of our colleagues, a former president, didn't want to go and be up there," Biden said in an apparent dig at former president Donald Trump.
- "I probably shouldn't even say that. Anyway," he continued as his voice dimmed.
- After shocking the audience, he quickly went back on script and tried to get the energy back up.
CNN commentator Van Jones admitted that Biden didn’t do well.
The Biden campaign was sent into a tailspin by the barrage of criticism.
Former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe compared the president’s performance to a Defcon1 moment.
Kamala Harris admitted Biden started slowly, while former White House communications director Kate Bedingfield pulled no punches, describing the performance as disappointing.
After the debate, Biden bizarrely told diners and reporters at a Waffle House establishment that it went well.
Doting wife Jill Biden hailed her husband for answering the questions but she was accused of treating the president like an infant.
But that didn’t stop a barrage of New York Times opinion pieces urging Biden to end his presidential bid.
Hours after the debate, Biden admitted at a North Carolina rally that he doesn’t debate as well as he used to before speaking with his family.
HUNKERING DOWN
Hunter Biden was among those encouraging his dad to stay in the race, per The New York Times.
Top Democrats such as Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer have not called on Biden to drop out from the race, but some lawmakers have urged the president to end his campaign.
Texas representative Lloyd Doggett called on Biden to suspend his re-election bid.
Meanwhile, Maine lawmaker Jared Golden penned an op-ed that revealed he’d be ok if Trump won in November.
Democratic politician Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who represents Washington's 3rd congressional district, expressed doubt that Biden would win a second term.
SHORING UP SUPPORT
The White House was even forced to deny speculation that Biden had told allies he was mulling over his re-election bid.
On Wednesday, he held a campaign call to shore up support among Democratic Governors.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said Biden remains the right man for the job.
“None of us are denying Thursday night was a bad performance. It was a bad hit, if you will on that, but it doesn’t impact what I believe: he’s delivering,” he said.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre batted back when journalists bombarded her with questions about Biden’s mental capabilities.
But the persistent questions surrounding Biden’s fitness for office have not disappeared.
'SLEEPY JOE'
It emerged Biden told the Democratic governors he needed more sleep and to avoid events beyond 8pm.
The revelation followed Axios reports claiming Biden is likely to become more fatigued after 4pm.
Sources claimed Biden is at his sharpest between 10am and 4pm.
Biden’s term has been synonymous with gaffes and the president seemed to blunder during a July 4 event.
Trump, who has remained relatively quiet following the debate, was seen in footage slamming Biden and Harris.
Then Biden bizarrely described himself as a black woman during a ramble.
He was quizzed in a 22-minute sitdown with Stephanopoulos - a former White House communications director and senior adviser to Bill Clinton.
It came eight days after the CNN contest, which viewers said Trump won by a margin of two to one, per polls conducted by the network.
BACKS AGAINST THE WALL
With four months until Americans vote, polls make grim reading for Biden.
But he told Stephanopoulos that only the Lord Almighty could make him withdraw from the race.
Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Trump boasts a national lead of approximately three percentage points, according to Real Clear Politics.
In July 2020, Biden was ahead nationally by almost nine points.
Trump also holds leads across the battleground states.
States such as Virginia and Minnesota - which Biden won comprehensively in 2020 - could be in play if the polls are to be believed.
A Republican presidential nominee hasn't carried Minnesota since 1972.
Bruen warned the Democrats could be staring down the barrel of a Michael Dukakis-style defeat if Biden remains at the top of the ticket.
Dukakis, the ex-governor of Massachusetts, suffered a landslide defeat in the 1988 presidential election against George H.W. Bush.
"There is no question that if Joe Biden remains our nominee we will go down to defeat and he will take down innumerable Democratic leaders with him," Bruen said.
"I think you're looking at Michael Dukakis [style loss]. Trump was already making inroads - not only here in Virginia, but places like New Jersey and New York."
6
If Biden is replaced as the Democratic nominee, it's unclear who will replace him.
Harris has been touted as the heir-apparent but Newsom, Whitmer, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, and New Jersey senator Cory Booker could surge to the top of any ticket.
Nor, is it certain that they would beat Trump.
Surveys compiled by Ipsos revealed Michelle Obama is the only Democrat who would beat Trump.
Read More on The US Sun
She holds a 50 to 39 lead over the Republican tycoon in a hypothetical match-up.
Trump holds a tight one-point lead over Kamala Harris and is ahead by three points in a match-up with Newsom.
6
6
6