Joe Biden's unconvincing performance in the presidential debate stunned the American and global public yesterday and prompted calls for him to abandon the campaign, and probably influenced some of America's closest allies to speed up preparations for Donald Trump's return to the White House.
Biden's supporters had hoped Thursday's debate would allay fears he was too old for office, but footage of a hoarse president speaking incoherently gave Trump a boost, politicians, analysts and investors said.
The global media was also harsh. The French "Mond" compared Biden to a shipwreck. The British leftist "Mirror" called his performance "a nightmare full of gaffes". The German "Bild" published the headline "Good night Joe", and the "Morning Herald" from Sydney said "Trump destroyed Biden. Democrats can't win with Joe."
"Joe Biden cannot succeed," said Matteo Renzi, a centrist who was close to the Democrats while serving as Italy's prime minister. Renci announced on the X network that Biden served the US honorably, adding: “He does not deserve an inglorious end, he does not. Changing candidates is everyone's responsibility."
Countries such as Japan and Germany have begun to prepare for Trump's possible return to the White House.
"Mr. Trump did not win, but Mr. Biden may have collapsed," said Kunihiko Miyake, a former Japanese diplomat and now research director at the Canon Institute for Global Studies. "Unlike eight years ago, we are now much better prepared, as are other European and Asian advisors. Still, Mr. Trump is unpredictable.”
Peter Lee, a research fellow at the Asia Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, told Reuters he expected Trump to be "very aggressive" in his second term in pressuring allies to increase defense spending.
As president, Trump has started a tariff war with China and is considering tariffs of 60 percent or more on all Chinese products if he wins the Nov. 5 election.
In Europe, Trump's criticism of NATO and demands that other members pay more dominated during his previous administration. His skepticism towards NATO causes additional nervousness while the Russian war in Ukraine is still ongoing.
"American democracy was killed by gerontocracy before our eyes," said Guy Verhofstadt, a member of the European Parliament and former prime minister of Belgium, who published photos of Biden and Trump on the X network.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz previously praised Biden's chances for re-election, but a senior defense official in the ruling coalition yesterday expressed regret over Biden's performance and called on Democrats to find a new candidate.
"The fact that a man like Trump can become president again because the Democrats are unable to put up a strong candidate against him would be a historical tragedy that would be felt by the whole world," said Marie-Agnes Strak-Zimmerman, from the liberal FDP party.
Scholz's spokesman did not want to comment on the details of the debate, but said that the chancellor highly appreciates Biden and that he never spoke with Trump because their mandates did not overlap.
During the debate, Trump accused Biden of not standing up to China on trade. He also said that the leaders of China, North Korea and Russia Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin "disrespect Biden" and that he is leading the country into "the third world war".
Biden fired back by saying that Trump's tariff proposals would result in higher costs for American consumers and that he was "coddled" to people like Kim and Putin.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin did not get up in the middle of the night to watch the US presidential debate and Russia will not comment on US domestic politics, the Kremlin announced yesterday.
"Look, you can't expect the president of Russia to wind his watch, wake up before dawn and watch the debate in the US," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that there are many other topics the president deals with that are more relevant to Russia.
Keir Starmer, the leader of the British Labor Party, who according to research should win the elections on July 4, said that Britain's relationship with the US is strong and "beyond individuals".
In Sydney, several Australian officials and experts attended a workshop called "Trump Part Two" as the debate aired. "The general impression is that it's a disaster for Biden," said Peter Dean, a professor at the Center for United States Studies. "The mood has changed significantly since the debate, and the general view is that if you haven't been preparing for Trump's return, now is a smart time to start."
Biden's verbal stumbles and occasionally incoherent answers in the debate have heightened concerns within the US that the 81-year-old incumbent may not be fit to serve another four-year term.
Three New York Times columnists called on Biden to withdraw from the race. One Biden donor, who wished to remain anonymous, called his performance "disqualifying" and predicted that some Democrats would call for him to step down. In this way, the party would have time to choose another candidate at the national convention, which begins on August 19, Reuters points out.
One Biden campaign staffer, who wished to remain anonymous, said they were unhappy with Biden's performance and hoped it would sway top strategists to rethink their approach. Other aides and allies have said privately that they don't think the debate debacle will hurt his chances of winning the nomination.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other prominent Democrats — including his possible replacements like California Gov. Gavin Newsom — said they are not abandoning Biden.
"What we saw tonight is a president who makes a very clear difference to Donald Trump on all the issues that matter to the American people. Yes, it was a slow start, but it was a strong finish," Vice President Kamala Harris told CNN. "People can argue about style, but at the end of the day, this election ... has to be about substance," she said. "I'm not going to spend all night with you talking about the last 90 minutes I've been watching for the last three and a half years."
After the debate, Biden said that he thought "we did well". When asked if he is worried about the performance and calls for numerous supporters to give up, he said: "No. It's hard to have a debate with a liar. The New York Times pointed out that he lied 26 times.” When asked if he was sick, Biden said that "his throat hurts".
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