Pundits have weighed in on Biden's debate performance, with some questioning whether he should even be the Democratic presidential nominee.
“That hurt,” Democratic analyst Van Jones said of Biden during a CNN roundtable after the debate. “He had a chance. [to] He was tasked with restoring trust in the country and the base, but he failed to do so.
“I think a lot of people are hoping now that Trump will consider a different course,” Jones added. “The convention is still a long way off, and the party has time to find another way forward if Trump allows it.”
Kate Bedingfield, Biden's former White House communications director, said at the same roundtable that Biden failed to project his energetic on-screen personality, “and that's a real shame for a lot of Democrats.”
David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, told CNN that Biden “scored a lot of points” in the debate on issues like abortion and the economy, but “I think there was a sense of shock.” [with] “How he first came out, what his voice sounded like, and he seemed a little confused at times.”
On MSNBC, David Plouffe, former President Barack Obama's campaign manager, called Biden's performance “kind of a DEFCON 1 moment.”
“I've been heavily involved in the presidential debates. Some have gone well, some have gone bad,” Plouffe told Rachel Maddow. “The only thing that matters is how the electorate that will decide this election responds. And we won't know for three or four days.”
“This really pains me to say this,” he continued. “There's an age difference of three years. Tonight it felt like a 30-year age difference. I think this is something that's really going to bother voters.”
