By Andrew Stanton
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Senator John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, slammed calls for President Joe Biden to step aside from the presidential race from some Democrats following his debate against former President Donald Trump on Thursday.
Biden is facing calls from some of his own supporters to exit the presidential race after a rocky performance during the debate against Trump. Biden, 81, who has fielded questions about his age, raised eyebrows after he sounded hoarse throughout the night and appeared to mumble at several points. A Biden aide, meanwhile, told Newsweek late Thursday night that the president was battling a cold during the debate.
Former Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill said during an appearance on MSNBC that her "heart is breaking" in response to Biden's performance, adding: "I don't know if things can be done to fix this."
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"Joe Biden lost the country tonight, and will not get it back. If Trump is a threat and democracy is on the line, then Biden must step aside. His duty, oath and legacy require an act of humility and selflessness," wrote strategist Steve Schmidt in a post to X, formerly Twitter.
In response to the various calls from Democrats for Biden to step aside, Fetterman rejected the idea in a X post on Friday morning.
"I refuse to join the Democratic vultures on Biden's shoulder after the debate," the senator wrote. "No one knows more than me that a rough debate is not the sum total of the person and their record."
During his Senate race in 2022, Fetterman faced scrutiny over his performance in a debate against GOP candidate Mehmet Oz after he struggled to communicate clearly during the discussion, which came just months after he suffered a stroke.
His debate performance sparked Democratic panic in the weeks leading up to the election, but he ultimately won the race.
"Morning-after thermonuclear beat downs from my race from the debate and polling geniuses like 538 predicted l'd lose by 2. And what happened? The only seat to flip and won by a historic margin (+5). Chill the f*** out," Fetterman wrote in a separate X post on Friday.
Newsweek has reached out to the Biden campaign and Fetterman's office for comment via email.
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In order for Biden to be replaced at the top of the ticket this late in the campaign, he would likely have to pull out of the race. It is unclear whether he could lose the nomination in a contested convention, and he has won the vast majority of Democratic delegates during the primary season.
Biden is on track to be confirmed as the party's 2024 nominee at the Democratic National Committee in Chicago in August after winning 3,904 of the available 3,949 delegates. A candidate would need 1,968 delegates to become the nominee.
Meanwhile, it remains unclear who would replace him, as potential prospects such as Vice President Kamala Harris or California Governor Gavin Newsom have continued to express support for Biden after the debate.
"I think it's unhelpful and I think it's unnecessary," Newsom said Thursday night after the debate regarding speculation that Democrats could look to replace Biden on the ticket.
The governor added during his MSNBC appearance: "We've got to have the back of this president. You don't turn your back because of one performance. What kind of party does that? Democrats deliver. This president has delivered. We need to deliver for him at this moment."
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