DeSantis declares Biden done after debate with Trump while Florida Democrats regroup

Gov. Ron DeSantis told Fox News that Joe Biden's debate performance spells the end to his campaign, while Florida Democrats regrouped following the first face-to-face TV exchange between the president and former President Donald Trump. 

Biden’s raspy voiced and occasionally rambling delivery did nothing to dispel concerns about the 81-year-old president’s age. Similarly, Trump’s firehose of half-truths and outright falsehoods during Thursday night’s CNN debate didn’t seem to shake supporters, including Florida’s chief executive. 

“I think I witnessed the unofficial end of the Biden campaign,” DeSantis told Fox’s Sean Hannity shortly after the 90-minute debate ended.  

“You cannot watch that performance and say that he could serve another four-year term,” added DeSantis, whose own bid for the Republican presidential nomination was crushed by Trump, 78. 

Democratic reaction ranges from move on, to stand by

Reaction from Florida Democrats ranged. 

Some shared postings on X, formerly known as Twitter, which expressed clear signs of anguish and a feeling that the party needs to come up with a new nominee to replace Biden. 

But state Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, said Friday that he was unmoved. 

“What we should not be doing in this moment is talking about an alternative,” said Jones, chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, the state’s largest Democratic caucus. “What we still have in front of us is that trusted voice of President Biden.” 

Jones added that Biden’s support for abortion rights and four-year record on the economy, health care and the environment, contrasts sharply with Trump’s White House years followed by his recent conviction on 34 felonies tied to covering up hush money payments to a porn star. 

Third party choices?After the Biden-Trump debate, some voters ask: who else is running for president?

"I'm voting for the old guy," Miami-Dade Dem chief

“What are we doing here? I’m voting for the old guy,” he added. 

But among some Florida Democrats, there was a sense of uncertainty. 

“The antidote to despair is action,” Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, posted on X, attaching a link to get-out-the-vote organizing efforts in Central Florida. 

U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Parkland Democrat, during Thursday night’s debate also seemed torn about his party’s future, posting on X, “In the last hour, I have 25 tweets in my draft folder.” 

His post drew a comment from former New York Republican Congressman George Santos, expelled from the House last year for a series of alleged financial misdeeds. 

“You need to go pull the plug on this man,” Santos told Moskowitz. 

Biden’s struggles before millions of viewers also could cloud efforts by Florida Democrats to do their share to help bolster voter turnout in November.  

Are Florida Democratic hopes shaken?

The party has successfully fielded a full slate of candidates for state House, Senate and congressional races for the first time in decades – a move seen as potentially steering more voters to top-of-the-ticket races, including the presidential contest. 

Although Republicans have a more than 900,000-person voter registration advantage over Democrats in Florida, no party voters comprise 26% of the electorate. Democrats are hoping that having a robust field of candidates on Florida ballots also will attract many non-aligned voters to Biden’s side. 

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried continued to focus her attention on the failings of Biden’s opponent, not the Democrat. 

“My mother always told me that she can handle anything besides a liar,” Fried posted on X. “Trump spent the entire evening lying and not answering questions. One thing continues to be true. Trump is an existential threat to democracy.” 

In a statement Friday, Fried reiterated her support for Biden as the party's nominee.

"The choice this November is clear: giving the nuclear codes to an unhinged felon like Donald Trump, or re-electing President Biden and his clear vision to move America forward," Fried said. "Florida Democrats will do everything possible to make that choice clear between now and November."

State Sen.-elect Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando Democrat, said he, too, was looking ahead and past Thursday's debate.

"The best way to relieve anxiety around a high-stakes election is taking action," Smith said. "Volunteering, donating time and resources to support Biden and other down-ballot Democratic races is what Democrats need to be doing."

John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@gannett.com, or on X at @JKennedyReport.