Read the room, Democrats. President Joe Biden cannot defeat Donald Trump

Ugh.

President Joe Biden’s performance Thursday night was far more painful than his supporters — perhaps anyone — could have imagined.

He was more forceful at a campaign rally Friday, where he acknowledged his poor performance the night before: “I don’t speak as easily as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to,” he told a cheering crowd in Raleigh, North Carolina.

“He was like a different person,” one Biden voter told me.

It may be a comeback, but it is the debate that will be remembered. It left an indelible impression that will be difficult, if not impossible, to overcome, especially for less-engaged voters.

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Some are calling it the worst debate performance of modern times.

Equally troubling, to the point of being surreal, are the early post-debate assessments of Biden and other leading Democrats, with nothing to see here.

“He stepped into a situation where it mattered. Our president showed that he would win the election,” Vice President Kamala Harris said.

“I thought he won the debate on substance,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom told MSNBC. “I was very, very proud that he was able to articulate the work that he’s done and lay the foundation for understanding the lies and deception that continue to come out of Donald Trump.”

And this from the president himself:

“I think we did well,” he said during a stop at a Waffle House.

He blamed his hoarse voice on a sore throat and rejected suggestions he would drop out of the race.

Unfortunately, a sore throat doesn’t explain Biden’s inconsistent responses. Neither does stuttering.

Let’s not forget that this is one of those rambling, rambling statements, this one made in response to a question about abortion rights.

“There are so many young women who have been raped, including a young woman who was just murdered and he went to the funeral. The idea that she was murdered by an immigrant who was coming, and they talk about it. But here’s the thing, there are a lot of young women who are raped by their in-laws, by their spouses, by their brothers and sisters, by… it’s just ridiculous. And there’s nothing they can do about it. »

This, after days of preparation for the debate at Camp David.

Neither candidate is fit to be president

Trump, on the other hand, did not disappoint. He displayed his usual brash, lying, horrible, self-centered personality.

He even promised to end the war in Ukraine before taking office.

“I will settle this war between Putin and Zelensky as president-elect before I take office on January 20. I will settle this war,” he vowed. “People are being killed so needlessly, so stupidly, and I will settle it and I will settle it quickly before I take office.”

Donald Trump — a convicted felon, mind you — is unfit to be president.

But unfortunately, neither does Joe Biden, and it’s time for Democrats to read the room and recognize that.

Stop making excuses for him or urging voters to “go home with the one who took you to prom,” as Governor Newsom said.

Pointing out that Biden surrounds himself with smart, competent people won’t work either.

People elect a president – ​​not his advisors – and they want a strong leader. They don’t see any in Joe Biden.

And no, this isn’t based on his performance on a single night. Questions have been raised for many months about the president’s fitness.

Why else would Democrats have been so worried before the debate?

Asks Biden to step down

Even those who admire him reluctantly ask him to drop out of the race.

“The best president of my adult life must step down,” Nobel Prize-winning columnist Paul Krugman headlined in the New York Times.

“Perhaps some Biden loyalists will view this as a betrayal, given how much I have supported his policies,” Krugman writes, “but I fear we must acknowledge the reality.”

The New York Times editorial board also urged Biden to drop out of the race.

“Calling for a new Democratic nominee at this late stage in the campaign is not a decision taken lightly,” the editorial said, “but it reflects the scale and gravity of Mr. Trump’s challenge to the values and to the institutions of this country and Mr. Biden’s inability to confront it. »

Here’s the reality we face: Biden was already behind in the polls. Following his performance in the debate, he risks sinking even lower.

Unless a sea change occurs to change the trajectory of this campaign, he will lose. The only question is how much?

Maybe I’m wrong. I hope that’s the case. There are, four months before the elections and still a debate to come.

But given what happened Thursday, many Americans are legitimately wondering whether the 81-year-old has the physical and mental stamina to serve as president for another four years.

In short, they have lost confidence in the president. Reminding them of Trump’s disastrous record, whether he is in office or not, will not change that.

Would a replacement candidate have the ability to beat Donald Trump?

Maybe not.

But again, read the room.

A replacement candidate would at least give Democrats a chance.