A report by Petra Abou Haidar, English adaptation by Nadine Sassine
Disastrous...
This is how the first debate between US President Joe Biden and his fierce rival, former President Donald Trump, was described.
Americans had long awaited the debate between the Democratic and Republican party candidates, but they were left disappointed due to Biden's weakness and Trump's lies. The most notable expression of the debate's reality came from US comedian Jon Stewart.
Yes, this is America, the most powerful country in the world, facing an unprecedented crisis in its most important election. The candidates engaged in a debate filled with insults and falsehoods, resulting in a shock for the Democrats in particular.
Foreign and US newspapers, including liberal ones, agreed on Biden's physical and mental weakness. This weakness manifested in his stumbling over his words and frequent slips of the tongue.
While the media noted lies from both men, Trump outdid Biden with more than 20 falsehoods, according to fact-checking conducted by various media outlets.
The first debate's events caused a division within the Democratic circle regarding how to get out of the predicament. On one side, some Democratic voices pushed for Biden to end his campaign and withdraw from the race in favor of a younger candidate, describing his performance as the worst in history. On the other hand, other Democrats rallied around the elderly president, believing that his lackluster performance does not change the fundamental risks of the election.
Given this situation, is the idea of abandoning Biden and replacing him with another candidate realistic, just five months before the election? It is difficult.
This could happen in one of two cases: either Biden himself decides to withdraw from the race, which would make it easier to nominate a replacement, though this is not guaranteed to happen, or if the president faces a health issue preventing his participation in the race.
If either scenario becomes a reality, what happens next? The delegates who meet next August at the Democratic National Convention to officially nominate Biden would have to vote to choose another candidate instead of Biden, requiring 1,976 out of 3,900 votes.