'Slow learners': Biden campaign mocked for claiming first 2024 presidential debate 'did not change the horse race'

WASHINGTON, DC: President Joe Biden's campaign attempted to downplay his poor performance in the first presidential debate with Donald Trump, claiming it "did not change the horse race."

The memo Biden campaign Chair Jen O'Malley Dillon issued on Saturday, June 29, read, "Flash polls from CNN, 538, SurveyUSA, Morning Consult, and Data for Progress show what we expected: The debate did not change the horse race," The Hill reported.

The Democratic campaign turned into a frenzy following the Thursday, June 27, debate hosted by CNN, where the 81-year-old started with a raspy voice, failing to form words and fumbling at several instances, whereas his Republican opponent seemed more energetic.

Biden campaign memo claims 'American people's perception' has not changed after debate

"It's a familiar story: Following Thursday night's debate, the beltway class is counting Joe Biden out," O'Malley Dillon's memo read.

"The data in the battleground states, though, tells a different story. On every metric that matters, data shows it did nothing to change the American people's perception, our supporters are more fired up than ever, and Donald Trump only reminded voters of why they fired him four years ago and failed to expand his appeal beyond his MAGA base," the Biden campaign chair added.

The president's horrible performance added to the concerns of whether his age and cognitive capacity could render him incapable of leading the nation for one more term if elected in November. Though his Democratic allies like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton tried to support the incumbent, news outlets like The New York Times urged him to suspend the re-election campaign.

As calls for Biden to step away from being the Democratic nominee ahead of the Democratic National Convention, the campaign declared he would continue to seek re-election. Biden campaign spokesperson Seth Schuster announced, "Of course, he's not dropping out," after Biden's first face-off with Trump.

Following the debate, independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, during an interview on NewsNation, said that he was open to replacing Biden as the Democratic nominee. In addition, Trump, while weighing in on the debate on Truth Social, claimed that his successor's horrible show undermined his "greatest debate performance."

Internet mocks Biden campaign for asserting debate 'did not change the horse race'

Netizens brutally mocked President Joe Biden's campaign's attempts to soft-pedal on the president's unimpressive show on the debate stage.

"Maybe the trajectory was already just as bad," one social media user wrote.

"We were told biden needed this debate to change his trajectory. He did not do that. He accelerated it," another remarked.

"This Biden campaign memo says the debate 'did not change the horse race' and Biden 'won on substance.' Even if both are true, can you still work to elect a candidate if you know he can’t physically do the job? That’s the real question," one person said.

Another labeled the Biden campaign as "slow learners."

"Yet they're retreating to Camp David to 'discuss the future'. This is utter incoherence now and it is a terrible optic to the rest of the world," one individual commented.

"They’re hoping their lemmings believe them," another added.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.