Charlotte (Queen City News) — The highly anticipated showdown between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump has some Democrats wondering whether Biden should drop out of the race.
The 81-year-old man appeared confused at times and had trouble thinking clearly.
“I’m going to make sure that every single person gets what I’ve been doing with COVID-19, excuse me, dealing with everything that we have to do, um, if … if we can finally beat Medicare,” Biden said.
“Last night’s debate will go down as one of the worst in American history. Neither candidate performed particularly well,” said Eric Heberlig, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He said the debate over whether Biden can be replaced at this point in the race will face a real challenge.
“Delegates to the Democratic National Convention, which formally nominates the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, must vote in the same manner that voters in their states voted in the primaries and caucuses,” Heberlig said.
The Democratic National Convention will be held in Chicago from Aug. 19 to 22, when delegates will formally vote for the party’s presidential and vice presidential nominees. Heberlig said the only way an alternative could emerge at this point would be if Biden decided to withdraw, relieving delegates of the obligation to vote for him.
“Biden’s obvious struggles have focused the attention today on his struggles, rather than on other issues that Trump was able to criticize in last night’s debate,” Heberlig said.
Queen City News reached out to all of North Carolina’s Democratic congressional district chairs but did not receive a response.
