Democrats reached “Defcon One” on Thursday night, calling on Joe Biden to step aside after his disastrous debate performance.
Strategists and elected politicians are now openly considering replacing the US president as the Democratic nominee at this year’s convention, after fears about his mental capacity were realised during his head-to-head with Donald Trump.
Mr Biden gave a stuttering and incoherent performance at the debate, hosted by CNN in Atlanta, as he struggled to respond to questions about policy and often trailed off mid-sentence.
David Plouffe, who managed Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, told the network: “It’s kind of a ‘Defcon One’ moment”.
“The concern level is quite high. Biden is behind narrowly right now. He is the one who has to change the equation here and the biggest barrier that is keeping his ceiling too low is concerns about his age.
He added: “They are three years apart, but they seemed about 30 years apart tonight.”
David Axelrod, another Obama strategist, said: “I think you’re going to hear discussions that I don’t know will lead to anything but there are going to be discussions about whether he should continue.”