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Democrats were sent into a tailspin after Joe Biden’s floundering presidential debate performance against Donald Trump Thursday — with one New York politician demanding the aging president call it quits.
Former New York state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi of the Bronx was one of the only high-profile pols who took to social media to air out her grievances minutes after the CNN debate airwaves went dead.
“President Biden is a good, honorable man. He has much to be proud of. It is time to step aside and call off this run,” Biaggi wrote on X.
“Team Biden: serve your country, tell him the truth. We need a strong candidate NOW. There is still time.”
The embarrassing debate was a moment of clarity for several other Dems, who had previously emphatically claimed that the 81-year-old incumbent’s age would not hinder his performance.
Biden had a series of gaffes throughout the 90-minute debate — including saying his late son “died in Iraq” and that he “beat Medicare.”
On CNN’s panel, John King criticized the president’s performance as “game-changing” for Dems.
“There is a deep, a wide and a very aggressive panic in the Democratic Party,” King said.
Follow the latest on Trump and Biden’s 2024 debate:
“It started minutes into the debate — and it continues right now. It involves party strategists. It involves elected officials. It involves fundraisers. And they’re having conversations about the president’s performance, which they think was abysmal, which they think will hurt other people down the party ticket. And they’re having conversations about what they should do about it.”
Former Obama adviser David Axelrod admitted that many Democrats felt “shock” at how President Biden looked at the beginning of the debate.
“Look, I can’t argue with either of them about how Democrat leaders are reacting,” he said.
“He seemed a little disoriented. He did get stronger as the debate went on. But by that time, I think the panic had set in.”
Axelrod was not the only former Obama staffer who aired their grievances, with ex-Obama Associate Staff Secretary Joel Wertheimer saying it was time for Biden to “step aside.”
“While I think Kamala would be better than Biden at this point, and is maybe the only alternative, I don’t think she has a much better shot,” Wertheimer wrote on X.
“Anyway if you’re a Democrat who likes Biden and likes Harris and just wants to f–king win, I do think it’s worth saying publicly that we do need somebody other than both of them.”
Former Biden White House communications director Kate Bedingfield simply said it was “not a good debate for Joe Biden.”
Political scion Maria Shriver — of the Kennedy legacy and former first lady of California — also threw in her 2 cents, saying that Biden’s performance was “heartbreaking in many ways.”
“I love Joe Biden. I know he’s a good man. I know his heart is good. I know he’s dedicated to our country and is surrounded by good people,” she wrote on X.
“This is a big political moment. There’s panic in the Democratic party. It’s going to be a long night.”
