The disastrous June 27 debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump rekindled serious concerns about Biden's age and sparked panic among Democrats, who quickly called for him to drop out of the presidential race.
Some in Biden's own party are eager to replace him, donors are scouting for alternative candidates, and Biden's awkward interview with ABC News on Friday did little to reassure critics.
Ten days after the debate and just months until the November election, important questions are emerging.
Why were the debates so bad for Biden?
Biden's biggest weakness in his reelection bid is his age. He'll be 86 by the end of his second term, a concern the White House and other allies have brushed aside, but voters have not. A special counsel report released earlier this year described Biden as “an old man with a failing memory,” adding to the concerns. The Trump campaign has been ruthless in exploiting Biden's weakness.
Within 15 minutes of the debate starting, Biden launched yet another devastating attack on Trump.
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Biden, 81, repeatedly forgot his lines, lost his train of thought, muddled his policy and appeared stunned and dazed while Trump rattled off unsubstantiated claims unchallenged. Despite having the opportunity to attack Trump on abortion and reproductive rights, a central pillar of his presidential campaign, Biden veering off into topics of immigration, rape and incest.
Post-debate polls found that two-thirds of voters thought Biden should be replaced by November. Polls since then have shown Biden's support plummeting. Trump now leads in every battleground state — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — according to an average from political statistics service FiveThirtyEight.
What's happened since the debate and what's next?
The White House has tried to blame the president's performance on a “cold” and fatigue. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and other prominent Democrats have voiced their support for Biden. Several state governors also endorsed the president after a crisis meeting on Wednesday.
The Biden campaign also claimed record fundraising in the four days following the debate. The president looked more competent in scripted speeches in North Carolina and Wisconsin, but appeared uncomfortable in an interview with ABC News on Friday.
But teleprompters and pre-recorded events are a different story. Privately, Democratic lawmakers, activists and big donors have been sharply critical of Trump's ability to stay in office and have urged him to step down immediately to give the party a chance to defeat him.
The US media, which had been reluctant to report on Biden's weaknesses, has also published shocking articles since the debate over the president's decline began.
Some members of Biden's own party have publicly called for him to resign. The Washington Post reported Friday that Democratic Sen. Mark Warner is calling for other senators to join the call. On Saturday, Rep. Angie Craig of battleground state Minnesota added her name to the list.
Now his supporters are hoping he can demonstrate his insight without the teleprompter he usually relies on.
But every unplanned moment will be scrutinized like never before, starting with the NATO summit in Washington next week.
Trump and his campaign will be poised to pounce, ensuring the next sign of Biden's age goes viral and does as much damage as last week's disastrous debate footage.
Could he be removed against his will?
It won't be easy. Some donors are still hopeful that Democratic leaders like Barack Obama or Bill Clinton can persuade Biden to back down, but that seems unlikely, even though several former Obama administration officials have spoken out on social media about Biden's decision to step down.
Party officials want Biden to make the decision himself, but that will be a matter for his inner circle and close family, people familiar with the matter said. Some have accused Biden of being selfish by not considering withdrawing.
When asked by ABC News host George Stephanopoulos how he would feel if Trump had won the election in January, he replied, “I would feel like I gave it my all, that I did the best I could, that I knew I could. That's what this election is about.”
Biden is currently being advised by his son Hunter, who was recently convicted on federal firearms charges and has reportedly urged his father to continue the campaign. The input of Biden's sister also matters.
But most importantly, there's first lady Jill Biden, who earned the nickname “Mrs. McBiden” after her insistence that the president keep fighting has angered party bosses and donors. “Our future is ours to define,” she told Vogue magazine this week.
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Donors want him to resign, but does that matter?
“The lifeblood of a campaign is money,” Ari Emanuel, a Hollywood “super agent” and major Democratic donor, said earlier this week.
Biden, who won the 2020 presidential election, raised more than $1 billion to Trump's $811 million, with most of that money coming from big donors.
Some of the party's top donors have paused their support until an alternative candidate emerges, with Netflix's Reed Hastings, Abigail Disney and cryptocurrency billionaire Mike Novogratz all calling on Biden to pull out.
That has forced Biden's two top fundraisers, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, to make frantic calls to friends to keep the money flowing.
For now, the Biden campaign is holding on thanks in part to the $264 million it raised in the second quarter, and if Biden were to pull out, legal experts say it would be relatively easy to transfer that money to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trevor Potter, president of the Campaign Legal Center, said that because she and Biden are the same candidate, “she will maintain access to all of the funding.”
Turning those funds over to another Democratic candidate is possible, but would be more difficult and would likely require refunding donors or transferring the funds to a different political action committee with the mandate to support the new candidate.
Who could replace him and how?
Some Democrats worry that Biden's withdrawal could spark civil war within a party that includes progressives, moderates, blue-collar voters and Wall Street donors and is divided by race and class politics.
Biden may try to get around this by endorsing Harris, but donors also like popular candidates in battleground states such as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, as well as California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has gained national recognition in recent months.
Ms Harris has an advantage: She already has national name recognition, easy access to Mr Biden's campaign funds and the backing of influential Democrats such as James Clyburn, who helped rally black voters to Mr Biden in 2020.
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