Barack Obama’s debate performance against Mitt Romney in the first 2012 presidential debate was widely seen as poor. The president appeared unenthusiastic and lacked the assertiveness expected of an incumbent president. He frequently looked down and avoided direct eye contact with Romney, who was more aggressive and articulate.
Romney dominated the debate, presenting his points clearly and confidently, which resonated with many viewers. The only thing that saved the ailing Democrat was Candy Crowley, the liberal moderator who jumped in to protect Obama with a false “fact check” against Romney.
Obama’s lackluster performance surprised many supporters and critics alike, resulting in a significant shift in poll numbers following the debate. This performance highlighted Obama’s vulnerability and gave Romney a much-needed boost in his campaign, making the race more competitive.
Everyone remembers who won the 2012 election.
Now, Barack Obama is the one jumping in to save the day after instead of Candy Crowley. Fox News reports that the move to remove Biden took a major hit Friday afternoon when the most popular Democrat in the country weighed in to defend the president.
Former President Obama admitted President Biden had a “bad” debate while offering a scathing message to his opponent on Friday following their showdown.
In a message on X, Obama conceded that his former vice president failed to deliver a strong showing for the Democratic Party and the American people.
“Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself,” Obama wrote.
He continued to deride former President Trump and prop up Biden, writing, “Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight — and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit. Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November.”
This is the second time this month that Obama has stepped in to help Joe Biden. Earlier in June, at a fundraiser in Los Angeles, the former president held the aging president’s hand to help him leave the stage after he appeared to freeze.
The reason Obama may continually step in to help his former vice president may be the most obvious.
While the former president may have the back of the current White House occupant’s back, his former staffers had an absolute meltdown following the debate Thursday night.
“The co-hosts of the liberal podcast “Pod Save America” melted down over President Joe Biden’s disastrous performance during Thursday night’s debate.
The hosts, like many other Democrats and liberal pundits, panicked over Biden’s raspy voice and inability to complete a sentence on the debate stage. Jon Favreau, a previous head speechwriter for former President Barack Obama, called the debate a ‘f***ing disaster” and the ‘worst’ he had ever witnessed,” explained The Daily Caller.
“The most important job that Joe Biden has as President of the United States is to beat Donald Trump and unfortunately, he went into this debate, he was behind. His job was to overcome that dynamic and change it,” Jon Lovett, a former Obama speechwriter, said.
“He emphasized it, and for the same sense of decency, and empathy and patriotism that led Joe Biden to run, I believe this is a moment to at least have a big, open conversation about the best thing he can do for America is to end his presidency as the success it deserves to be on whether or not he should step aside and already … because the stakes are so high, you see people afraid to have that conversation, and fine. But what I don’t appreciate is people immediately saying well, we know Joe Biden won’t step aside. We know Joe Biden won’t do this, won’t do that. I don’t know what Joe Biden’s gonna do.”
This wasn’t the first time that liberal staff members openly worried about Biden’s decline.
The negative comments calling for Biden to step aside are not just coming from young liberal staffers from Capitol Hill, either. The New York Times editorial board released a statement Friday morning begging the president to announce he was no longer running for president.
“Mr. Biden has said that he is the candidate with the best chance of taking on this threat of tyranny and defeating it. His argument rests largely on the fact that he beat Mr. Trump in 2020. That is no longer a sufficient rationale for why Mr. Biden should be the Democratic nominee this year.
At Thursday’s debate, the president needed to convince the American public that he was equal to the formidable demands of the office he is seeking to hold for another term. Voters, however, cannot be expected to ignore what was instead plain to see: Mr. Biden is not the man he was four years ago.”
Just last week, The Times joined in the chorus of liberal media outlets claiming that anyone who pointed out that Biden has suffered a cognitive decline was falling for “cheap fakes.”
Polling recently showed that any possible replacement for Biden would perform worse than the president himself, including the media’s frontrunner, California Governor Gavin Newsom.
[Read More: Biden Censoring Media At Campaign Rally]