海角大神

For months, U.S. President Joe Biden and his team have struggled to battle voters鈥� perception that he鈥檚 too old to serve another term in office. But in 90 minutes onstage Thursday night with millions of Americans watching, Mr. Biden delivered a performance that likely only aggravated those concerns.

Speaking softly, stumbling over his words, and at times trailing off midsentence, Mr. Biden met former President Donald Trump for a historically early first debate. The best thing that could be said for the president is that there鈥檚 still enough time before the election that voters might not have it top of mind. Mr. Biden鈥檚 debate performance left many Democrats deeply concerned that the 81-year-old appeared too old and feeble to beat Mr. Trump, with some even privately asking if he should stay in the race.

Democrats鈥� concerns set in early, as Mr. Biden, barely audible, struggled to get through his opening remarks. The worries聽hit a crescendo as the president seemed to lose his train of thought on a question about national debt. After looking down and struggling for words for three full seconds, Mr. Biden declared, 鈥淲e finally beat Medicare.鈥�

Moderators then turned to Mr. Trump, who pounced.

鈥淗e鈥檚 right 鈥� he did beat Medicare; he beat it to death; he destroyed Medicare,鈥� Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Biden also bungled a question about abortion access 鈥� one of the issues on which polls show voters favor him by the widest margins 鈥� by pivoting in a non sequitur to immigration, one of the issues on which Mr. Trump has the biggest edge, while delivering a hard-to-follow answer.

Gerald Herbert/AP

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addressed a wide range of issues in Thurday's Atlanta debate, but had to contend with the label "convicted felon" being hurled at him by his opponent.

Mr. Biden鈥檚 struggles onstage played directly into voters鈥� biggest concerns about his reelection campaign. A recent New York Times/Siena College聽聽found that 70% of voters agreed that 鈥淛oe Biden is just too old to be an effective president.鈥�

Many Democrats were aghast聽at his performance.

鈥淚t was pretty much an unmitigated disaster from top to bottom,鈥� said one Democratic strategist who works with the White House, after requesting anonymity to be able to speak freely.

This strategist called for 鈥渁t least a campaign shakeup,鈥� calling it 鈥渕alpractice鈥� that the campaign had raised expectations for Mr. Biden鈥檚 debate performance. 鈥淚nstead, we got gramps.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 just not good,鈥� another Democratic strategist messaged. 鈥淚t was so deeply unclear what [Biden] was trying to say that, even if you knew Trump鈥檚 responses were lies, you still would probably think he was doing better.鈥�

Some Democrats even began privately questioning whether more than just a campaign shakeup was needed 鈥� and whether Mr. Biden should step aside in favor of someone else with a better shot of beating Mr. Trump.

Even many of Mr. Biden鈥檚 former aides acknowledged he鈥檇 had a bad night.

鈥淭his was not the debate performance that the Biden campaign team wanted or needed from this debate,鈥� former Biden White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on MSNBC, warning that the 鈥渃hatter鈥� building about whether Mr. Biden should be replaced would be 鈥渧ery distracting.鈥�

Still, other Democrats argued that the panic was overblown and that Mr. Biden would be judged on his record as president, not on one debate performance.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 turn your back [on a candidate] because of one performance. What kind of party does that?鈥� California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on MSNBC, pushing back against rumblings from Democrats that Mr. Biden should step aside. 鈥淲e鈥檝e all had those nights. All of us,鈥� he said.

If Mr. Biden faltered in terms of style, Mr. Trump misspoke on substance聽鈥� repeatedly exaggerating or stating outright falsehoods. Mr. Trump claimed wrongly that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had refused a White House offer of National Guard support during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riot, and that Mr. Biden 鈥渨ants to raise your taxes by four times.鈥澛�

Much of the debate was focused on issues favorable to Mr. Trump, especially in the first half. Mr. Biden faced tough questions about inflation and immigration. And it took 40 minutes before the Jan. 6 Capitol riots were brought up. Mr. Biden鈥檚 soft-spoken and meandering response undercut his criticism of his predecessor for trying to overturn his 2020 election loss. It wasn鈥檛 until a few minutes later, halfway through the debate, that Mr. Trump鈥檚 felony conviction in his New York hush money case came up.

Gerald Herbert/AP

President Joe Biden gestures during the June 27 presidential debate on CNN from Atlanta, in which he defended his administration's record on the economy and foreign policy.

While Mr. Biden struggled for most of the debate, Mr. Trump showed an uncharacteristic level of discipline, proving to be more in control and better able to resist his worst impulses than he was in previous general-election debate performances. When asked about Jan. 6, for instance, rather than echo his campaign trail promises about pardoning jailed rioters, he tried to pivot from the subject while distancing himself from the riot.

Mr. Trump couldn鈥檛 fully tamp down his aggressive instincts, however, offering flashes of what polls show many voters dislike about him: bullying, bragging, and nonsensical comments.聽

After Mr. Biden defended the level of support he鈥檚 given Israel during its war in Gaza, Mr. Trump accused him of being soft on Hamas. 鈥淗e鈥檚 become like a Palestinian, but they don鈥檛 like him, because he鈥檚 a very bad Palestinian. He鈥檚 a weak one,鈥� Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump also said, 鈥淚 had the best environmental numbers ever, and my top environmental people gave me that statistic just before I walked on the stage.鈥�

Later in the debate, Mr. Trump was asked about what he鈥檇 do to help parents facing the spiraling costs of child care. But he was so focused on pushing back on a pair of attacks lobbed by Mr. Biden 鈥� including one accurate remark that Mr. Trump had placed last in a聽聽conducted by more than 150 presidential historians 鈥� that he twice didn鈥檛 answer the questions asked.

The end of the debate devolved into a childish argument over who was the better golfer.

Mr. Biden suggested Mr. Trump was lying about how much he weighed and said that he鈥檇 play him 鈥� if Mr. Trump was willing to carry his own golf clubs on the course. Mr. Trump shot back that Mr. Biden was lying about his golf handicap.

鈥淚鈥檝e seen your swing; I know your swing,鈥� Mr. Trump said before catching himself. 鈥淟et鈥檚 not act like children.鈥�

Mr. Biden warmed up for stretches as the debate wore on. But by the end, he seemed to be flagging again. In his closing statement, he needed to pause and clear his throat before continuing on. A minute later, he tripped over his words while discussing Medicare.聽

There are still more than four months until Election Day. Other incumbent presidents have had rough first debates and bounced back to win reelection 鈥� Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama both got crushed in their first debates in 1984 and 2012, respectively. And there鈥檚 plenty of time for other events to shift the race. Mr. Trump faces sentencing in a few weeks for his criminal conviction in New York, for example.

But Mr. Biden did himself no favors on Thursday night.