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The many faces of Donald Trump from past presidential debates

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The many faces of Donald Trump from past presidential debates

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Former President Trump and President Biden have spent weeks in preparation leading up to their center stage appearances tonight for the highly anticipated CNN Presidential Debate.

The debate is the first of the 2024 presidential election cycle to include both men, and millions of Americans across the country are seeking answers to questions about critical issues important to voters.

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However, Americans are also awaiting viral moments brought on by both the remarks and facial expressions of each presidential candidate, especially as neither nominee is a stranger to social media virality.

YOUNG TRUMP SUPERFAN BROUGHT TO TEARS WHILE MEETING FORMER PRESIDENT

President Biden and former President Trump will go head-to-head tonight in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle. (Win McNamee/Getty Images/Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

A few times since Biden began his presidency, the incumbent has attracted hundreds of thousands of clicks for a number of speaking gaffes and a few falls.

In 2022, Biden was recorded falling off his bike while cycling in Delaware, which quickly circulated across social media platforms.

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Last summer, Biden drew social media attention when he tripped and hit the stage floor during an Air Force Academy graduation ceremony.

Last weekend, Trump went viral during a moment shared with a young fan in Philadelphia where the child was wearing a Trump-like suit and wearing a wig. The kid met the former president, who signed and gifted him with a $20 bill, and the exchange was captured on video. It garnered nearly 900,000 views on X at midday on Sunday.

“I like that kid! So, if your parents don’t want you, I’ll take you,” Trump said in the video.

PRESIDENT BIDEN ALMOST FALLS WHILE WALKING UP AIR FORCE ONE STAIRS

Biden falls on Air Force graduation stage

Biden has gone viral for falling down several times since becoming president. (Fox News)

In 2023, following his arrest in Fulton County, Georgia, Trump’s mugshot immediately went viral and has since been used to decorate coffee mugs, sweatshirts and T-shirts, including those sold on his own campaign website.

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While there will be no audience present tonight in Atlanta at CNN’s Midtown studio, and microphones will be controlled by media personnel, viewers everywhere will be looking at the candidates for clashing reactions to one another, especially the usually unabashed expressions provided by Trump.

Here are some of the most memorable facial expressions by the former president during previous presidential debates.

Trump reacts to Biden saying he has no COVID plan

During the Sept. 29, 2020, presidential debate between Trump and Biden, hosted by Fox News, Biden said of Trump during the COVID-19 pandemic, “He went on record and said to one of your colleagues, recorded, that in fact he knew how dangerous it was, but he didn’t want to tell us, didn’t want to tell us because he didn’t want us to panic.”

He added, “He didn’t want us. Americans don’t panic. He panicked,” and went on to say that Trump “still doesn’t have a plan” regarding next steps to combat the disease at the time.

Trump reacts to Biden saying he "doesn't have a plan" during a 2020 presidential debate.

Trump reacts to Biden saying he “doesn’t have a plan” during a 2020 presidential debate. (Fox News)

Trump reacts to a question about paying $750 in federal income taxes in 2017

During the same presidential debate on Sept. 29, 2020, Trump was asked by the moderator if he would tell Americans how much he paid in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017, to which he responded, “Millions of dollars.”

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He added, “And you’ll get to see it.”

In late 2022, Democrats revealed Trump’s tax returns and made his finances public to the American people, though Trump worked to stop them in court.

HILLARY CLINTON COMPLAINS IT’S ‘IMPOSSIBLE’ TO DEBATE TRUMP, ‘WASTE OF TIME’ TO REFUTE ARGUMENTS

Trump reacts to tax question

Trump reacts to a question about his federal tax filings during a 2020 presidential debate. (Fox News)

Trump’s reactions during debate with Hillary Clinton

During a 90-minute CNN-hosted presidential debate on Oct. 9, 2016, in St. Louis, Hillary Clinton and Trump went head-to-head on topics including taxes, a travel ban on Muslims, Syrian refugees and two-faced politicians, among other topics.

Early in the debate, Clinton said, “It’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country,” 

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Trump responded ominously, “Because you’d be in jail.”

Later in the debate the former Secretary of State said, “Well, everything you’ve heard from Donald is not true. I’m sorry I have to keep saying this, but he lives in an alternative reality and it is sort of amusing to hear somebody who hasn’t paid federal income taxes in maybe 20 years talking about what he’s going to do, but I’ll tell you what he’s going to do.”

Trump reacts to energy policy statement from Biden

During the final presidential debate between Trump and Biden on Oct. 22, 2020, at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, the former president and incumbent disagreed over energy policies when Biden said he wanted to move away from fossil fuels.

Biden said of Trump, “He won’t give federal subsidies to the gas, excuse me, to solar and wind,” to which Trump subsequently reacted with “Oooh!” a couple of times.

Trump 2020

Trump reacts to Biden’s remarks during an ABC-hosted presidential debate in 2020. (ABC)

Trump reacts to Clinton and climate change remark

The first presidential debate between Clinton and Trump drew over 84 million viewers.

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During the debate on Sept. 26, 2016, Clinton said of the former president, “Donald thinks that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese,” to which Trump subtly raised his eyebrows and followed with “I did not. I do not say that.”

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Trump 2016

Trump reacts to remarks made by Clinton regarding climate change during an NBC-hosted presidential debate in 2016. (NBC)

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The New Yorker editor calls for Biden to step down after 'antagonizing' debate performance

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The New Yorker editor calls for Biden to step down after 'antagonizing' debate performance

The New Yorker magazine has joined other major publications in calling for President Biden to step aside after its editor said watching Biden perform during Thursday’s debate was an “agonizing experience.”

The New Yorker is now the third publication, alongside The New York Times and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, to call upon Biden to step-aside for a younger Democratic nominee.

“We have long known that Biden, no matter what issue you might take with one policy or another, is no longer a fluid or effective communicator of those policies,” The New Yorker’s editor, David Remnick, wrote.

“Asked about his decline, the Biden communications team and his understandably protective surrogates and advisers would deliver responses to journalists that sounded an awful lot like what we all, sooner or later, tell acquaintances when asked about aging parents: they have good days and bad days,” he wrote.

ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION EDITORIAL BOARD CALLS FOR BIDEN TO DROP OUT ‘FOR THE GOOD OF THE NATION’

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President Joe Biden looks on as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections with former US President and presumed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Remnick wrote that watching Biden “wander into senselessness” moved observers to “pity” and “fear for the country.”

“Watching Thursday’s debate, observing Biden wander into senselessness onstage, was an agonizing experience, and it is bound to obliterate forever all those vague and qualified descriptions from White House insiders about good days and bad days,” he said.

“You watched it, and, on the most basic human level, you could only feel pity for the man and, more, fear for the country.”

President Biden, Jill Biden at CNN debate

President Biden, shown here with wife Dr. Jill Biden, faced presumed Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump, in the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign season last week. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Remnick made his remarks despite defensive comments from Biden’s loyalists, like former President Obama, First Lady Jill Biden and Gov. Gavin Newsom.

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THE DEMOCRATS’ SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT ATTEMPTS TO SPIN BIDEN’S DEBATE DEBACLE: ‘DID WE WATCH THE SAME DEBATE?’

“Such loyalty can be excused, at least momentarily,” he wrote. “They did what they felt they had to do to fend off an immediate implosion of Biden’s campaign, a potentially irreversible cratering of his poll numbers, an evaporation of his fund-raising, and the looming threat of Trump Redux.”

joe biden on the debate stage

President Joe Biden stands at his podium during the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections between himself and former president Donald Trump at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Kevin D. Liles for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The New Yorker editor said that Biden staying in the race would be in direct opposition to his years of public service.

“To stay in the race would be pure vanity, uncharacteristic of someone whom most have come to view as decent and devoted to public service,” Remnick wrote.

“To stay in the race, at this post-debate point, would also suggest that it is impossible to imagine a more vital ticket,” he wrote.

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Remnick concluded his piece by noting that there “is no shame in growing old” but rather there would be “honor” to step down and out of the race.

“It is sad to go to pieces like this, but we all have to do it. There is no shame in growing old,” he wrote. “There is honor in recognizing the hard demands of the moment.”

Trump and Biden on debate stage

President Biden and former President Trump are facing off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign. (Getty Images)

The New Yorker article came after the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The New York Times called for him to drop out of the race.

“Mr. Biden has said that he is the candidate with the best chance of taking on this threat of tyranny and defeating it,” The Times said. “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.”

“Mr. Biden answered an urgent question on Thursday night. It was not the answer that he and his supporters were hoping for,” the Times concluded. “But if the risk of a second Trump term is as great as he says it is — and we agree with him that the danger is enormous — then his dedication to this country leaves him and his party only one choice.”

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President Biden, Jill Biden at CNN debate

President Joe Biden walks off with first lady Jill Biden following the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia.  (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Following the debate, Democrats and liberal media figures were reportedly in “panic” after Biden’s performance.

The optics led to a full-on meltdown in Democrat-friendly media, with journalists at various outlets reporting on dozens of Democratic Party officials who said the 81-year-old Biden should consider refusing his party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention.

BIDEN’S INNER CIRCLE SILENT AS PARTY REELS FOLLOWING ‘EMBARRASSING’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE 

Biden gave no indication he would step down at his first rally following the debate Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina, insisting he is capable of beating Trump. 

“I can do this job, because, quite frankly, the stakes are too high,” Biden energetically said. “Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation.” 

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Trump and Biden

This combination of pictures created on October 22, 2020 shows US President Donald Trump (L) and Democratic Presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden during the final presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, on October 22, 2020. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI, JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

President Biden also addressed his stumbling performance, saying, “I don’t debate as well as I used to.”

“I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done,” he told a roaring crowd that chanted “Four more years.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Biden campaign for comment.

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Column: After Biden's debate fiasco, Harris or Newsom could be Plan B

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Column: After Biden's debate fiasco, Harris or Newsom could be Plan B

As pressure mounts on President Biden to quit his reelection race after a shockingly dismal debate performance, the spotlight will turn more intensely on two Californians: Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Gavin Newsom.

And although California won’t matter in the November election — whoever is the Democratic nominee will easily carry the state — its huge delegation to the party’s national convention in August could play a decisive role in choosing a Biden replacement.

Harris would top the initial list of possible substitutes with Newsom close behind.

But Harris, 59, has been less popular than Biden, according to polls. And she’s widely considered a drag on the ticket. One fear of many voters is that if Biden, 81, didn’t last out his second term, he’d be replaced as president by Harris.

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The former California attorney general looked sharp, however, in a post-debate interview on CNN. And although I’ve long been a critic, I got the feeling while watching her that she might not be a campaign disaster after all.

In fact, Harris might perform well on the stump. Drop the robotic script and be more spontaneous. She certainly would be a more competitive debater against Republican Donald Trump than the weak Biden.

Harris showed genuine conviction — a look she usually lacks — in pitching Biden’s policies. She tried to put the best face on his debate performance.

“Yes, there was a slow start. That’s obvious to everyone,” she said. “But it was a strong finish.”

Well, no it wasn’t, but he did improve — after badly damaging himself, probably beyond repair.

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One Harris hurdle, however, is that party leaders remember she bombed running for president in 2020.

Then there’s Newsom, 56.

If Newsom ever wants to run for president — and he acts like he does — now may be his best opportunity, assuming Biden can be coaxed out. There’s persistent speculation about him running in 2028. But he’s in the limelight now and there could be a Democratic incumbent seeking reelection in four years.

Newsom is already warmed up. The two-term governor has been promoting himself nationally while attacking red state policies and playing the role of an enthusiastic Biden surrogate. He has a veteran campaign organization.

Roger Strassburg wears a cowboy hat as he watches Thursday’s debate between President Biden and former President Trump in Scottsdale, Ariz.

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(Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)

But Newsom would need to compete for the nomination against Harris, his old San Francisco ally. And he has said publicly he wouldn’t do that. If he did, he’d be considered a party pariah, especially among Black women, Newsom has said privately.

Actually, I’ve never thought that a California Democrat could be elected president in this era of hardened polarization. Our politics are just too leftist for most of America.

Newsom has Hollywood looks and oratorical skills. But his biggest political asset — being California governor — is also his biggest vulnerability.

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One strength that both Harris and Newsom have, however, is that California’s delegation will be by far the largest at the Democratic convention. Presumably it would back a California candidate.

The 496-member slate will field 22% of the votes needed to win the nomination. So if Biden leaves the race, California could play a big role in choosing his successor.

Who else is a possibility? For starters, two governors of key battleground states: Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania. There’s also Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

There’s no perfect candidate. But Trump is thoroughly imperfect.

Biden loyalists and lethargic naysayers have contended for months that it’s too late to change horses while the presidential race is underway, especially now that it has neared the final lap. Nonsense.

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Conventions were invented to fight over nominations. But smoke-filled rooms unfortunately got a bad name and the Democratic Party went overboard on reforms. And the conventions became boring television shows that fewer people watched.

Republicans had the last convention battle in 1976 when they nominated President Ford over Californian Ronald Reagan. Ford then was beaten by Democrat Jimmy Carter. The last good Democratic brawl was in 1972 when the California delegation propelled George McGovern into the nomination. He was pummeled by President Nixon, a native Californian.

So convention battles sometimes backfire on a party. But this year could be different.

A Democratic donnybrook could stir new interest in the party and wake up the slumbering base that keeps telling pollsters it wants a president much younger than the 81-year-old incumbent.

Political leaders have a bad habit of plugging their ears when the public is saying things they don’t want to hear.

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Voters aren’t satisfied with either of their choices. Trump, 78, seems healthier than Biden, at least physically. But Trump’s a pathological liar. “The morals of an alley cat,” Biden told him during the debate.

The voters’ anxiety about Biden’s ability to adequately serve a second term was re-stoked in his halting, hoarse-voiced, awkward performance. He seemed to lose his train of thought at least once and had trouble finishing sentences.

It was the worst presidential debate performance ever.

President Reagan blew his first debate against Democrat Walter Mondale in 1984, raising concerns about his age at 73. But he wasn’t nearly as painful to watch as Biden. Reagan fully recovered in a second debate.

Even if Biden’s decision-making is sound, people perceive him as weak. And that means he’d have difficulty leading the country.

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If Trump’s election really would endanger democracy, as Biden contends, then the president should step aside to give the party a better chance of defeating the unfit jerk. He’ll naturally resist that. But those he trusts should level with him and push.

“You don’t turn your back [on someone] after one performance,” Newsom told a TV interviewer. “What kind of party does that?”

A winning party that prioritizes its principles and the nation.

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Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial board calls for Biden to drop out 'for the good of the nation'

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Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial board calls for Biden to drop out 'for the good of the nation'

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) is calling for President Biden to step out of the presidential election after his debate debacle on Thursday night.

The AJC Editorial Board is publishing a front page editorial Sunday arguing that Biden should bow out of the election “for the good” of the country and to defeat former President Trump.

“The shade of retirement is now necessary for President Biden,” the board wrote.

THE DEMOCRATS’ SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT ATTEMPTS TO SPIN BIDEN’S DEBATE DEBACLE: ‘DID WE WATCH THE SAME DEBATE?’

An Axios report explained that Americans were so shocked by Biden’s debate performance because they’re more used to seeing a more competent version of him. (Getty Images)

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Biden, they argued, failed to convey a “competent and coherent vision for the future of America” at the first presidential debate in Atlanta on Thursday.

“He failed to outline the most fundamental aspects of his platform,” they wrote. “He failed to take credit for the significant accomplishments of his 3½ years in office. And he failed to counter the prevarications of an opponent, who, according to CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale, lied 30 times during the course of the debate, approximately once every 90 seconds of his allotted time.”

Biden and Trump at the debate

President Biden and former President Trump participate in the first Presidential Debate at CNN Studios in Atlanta, Thursday. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

AJC said that responses by Biden surrogates, former President Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris as well as the cover-up attempt by aides that the president had a cold were “insulting to the American people.”

BIDEN DEBATE DEBACLE: 10 EYE-OPENING MEDIA RESPONSES, FROM MSNBC PANIC TO ‘THE VIEW’ CALLING FOR REPLACEMENT

Biden’s age and mental acuity was a concern only heightened by Trump’s resolve, the newspaper argued.

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“President Biden’s ability to withstand the mental and physical rigors of another four-year term would be of concern regardless of his opponent,” they wrote. “The fact that he is all that stands in the way of Trump returning to the Oval Office significantly raises the stakes.”

Biden looking dazed

President Biden looks on as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections in Atlanta on Thursday. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

The editorial board pointed to Trump’s Vice President Mike Pence and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s refusal to support the former president as proof of Trump’s “egregious” personal and professional conduct following the 2020 election.

“That Trump remains at the top of the Republican ticket is a testament to the deep divisions and tribalism that has come to define American politics in the 21st century,” they wrote.

joe biden on the debate stage

President Biden stands at a debate podium in Atlanta, Thursday. (Kevin D. Liles for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The board encouraged Biden to pass the torch to the next generation of Democratic leaders at the convention in August.

“If he truly hopes to defeat Trump, he must pass the torch to the next generation of Democratic leaders and urge the party to nominate another candidate at its convention in Chicago in August,” they wrote. “Doing this will require a massive and unprecedented string of legal and regulatory actions to get a Biden successor named and placed on each state’s ballot. This is difficult and necessary work that must start immediately.”

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BIDEN’S ‘DISASTER’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE SPARKS MEDIA MELTDOWN, CALLS FOR HIM TO WITHDRAW FROM 2024 RACE

The right Democratic leader, they argued, would move forward and make a compelling appeal to both Republican and Democratic voters ahead of the election.

“The Democrats have a number of talented and principled leaders who might take the president’s agenda forward and provide the nation with a viable alternative to Trump,” they wrote. “The right candidate would make it a priority to appeal to Republican and Democratic voters.”

President Biden, Jill Biden at CNN debate

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden leave the debate stage Thursday in Atlanta. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The board said that Biden’s very candidacy was “grounded in his incumbency and the belief of Democratic leaders and pollsters that he stood the best chance of defeating Trump in November.”

“This is no longer the case,” they said.

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The Atlanta-based newspaper board said that while this may be difficult for some Democrats to swallow, it is the truth.

“Biden deserves a better exit from public life than the one he endured when he shuffled off the stage Thursday night,” they said.

“If he displays the courage and dignity that have defined his political career, he might follow in the footsteps of the nation’s first president and welcome his retirement, secure in the knowledge that he again served his country with honor,” the board ended.

People watching the debate on TV

People watch the 2024 presidential debate between former President Trump and President Biden in New York City, Thursday. (Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The AJC Editorial Board’s call for Biden to step down comes just one day after The New York Times called for him to drop out of the race.

“Mr. Biden has said that he is the candidate with the best chance of taking on this threat of tyranny and defeating it,” The Times said. “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.”

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“Mr. Biden answered an urgent question on Thursday night. It was not the answer that he and his supporters were hoping for,” the Times concluded. “But if the risk of a second Trump term is as great as he says it is — and we agree with him that the danger is enormous — then his dedication to this country leaves him and his party only one choice.”

President Biden and Jill Biden

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive at a campaign event in Raleigh, N.C., Friday. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Following the debate, Democrats and liberal media figures were reportedly in “panic” after Biden’s performance.

The optics led to a full-on meltdown in Democrat-friendly media, with journalists at various outlets reporting on dozens of Democratic Party officials who said the 81-year-old Biden should consider refusing his party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention.

BIDEN’S INNER CIRCLE SILENT AS PARTY REELS FOLLOWING ‘EMBARRASSING’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE 

Biden gave no indication he would step down at his first rally following the debate Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina, insisting he is capable of beating Trump. 

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“I can do this job, because, quite frankly, the stakes are too high,” Biden energetically said. “Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation.” 

President-Biden-Holds-Post-Debate-Rally-In-North-Carolina

President Biden speaks at a post-debate campaign rally Friday in Raleigh, N.C. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)

President Biden also addressed his stumbling performance, saying, “I don’t debate as well as I used to.”

“I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done,” he told a roaring crowd that chanted “Four more years.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Biden campaign for comment.

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