June 29, 2024 • 10 mins
Friday's Trump-Biden debate has put the Democratic Party into damage control mode.
Reports claim that Biden's 'shaky' performance at the debate had the party questioning the President's competence - and if a replacement is needed.
US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says the Democrats are going to have to make some choices fast.
"Would you bring in Kamala Harris? She polls worse than Joe Biden does against Donald Trump right now. And then you have to ask yourself- would the Democratic Party deny Kamala Harris the nomination?"
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks edb.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
As I just mentioned the fallout continues across the US
following Friday's disastrous debate for the standing President Joe Biden.
The Democrats are now in damage control to talk us
through it all. US correspondent Dan Mitchinson joins me. Now,
Good morning, Dan.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Good morning. Francesca.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Hey took me through the reaction to Friday's debate.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Well, I think the best line was one that I
was just reading earlier today. That was from The Washington
Post's associate editor, Bob Woodward, and I think this kind
of encompasses everything. He said that this debate performance was
a political hydrogen bomb, and I think that's a great
way of describing it. But I also think the surprising
thing is that everyone is talking about this now, after
(00:54):
this one to ninety minute debate, when the signs have
been there for Joe Biden for the past couple of years.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Is that assignment of actually how good his team is
around him, how they've managed to, you know, to kind
of to reassure us, no, no, no, there is nothing to
be worried about. But this time, there was just nothing
they could do.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
I think, in fact, it's not even a team somebody
called it employees that he has working for him, because
it's a very close number of people, mostly family and friends,
including his wife, Joe Biden, doctor Joe Biden, and then
he basically has the final say.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
But they've done a fantastic job.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
And I've spoken with an interview I don't know countless
some of the top Democrats across the country, and each
time they've told me the behind closed doors, they don't
think Joe Biden is up for this job mentally or physically.
And yet they don't want Kamala Harris to step in.
They don't think she has the star power or the
experience to take over from Biden. But apparently nobody advisors
(02:00):
and that's what they're supposed to be doing, stepped up,
and we're willing to tell Joe Biden this to face.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I don't ask this blibly, but I think that a
lot of people are curious as to why the American
people have ended up with the choice of these two nominees.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
I think that is probably the best question you could ask,
and it's one that I am disappointed in with both parties,
and that I've been vocal about. I don't think anybody
has anyone to blame but themselves for the situation that
we're in. I don't think Republicans can't point fingers at
anybody else because they're the one that got Donald Trump
back here. Democrats certainly can't point fingers because there are
(02:44):
a few people out there. The Democrats and the Republicans
don't have a deep bench right now. As we saw
Pete Budajeedge, who's Secretary of Transportation Iran four years ago,
didn't make it something he's in the future. Gavin Newsom,
governor of California, fifth largest economy in the world, is
likely going to run in twenty twenty eight, and if
you were asked me right now, he is certainly the
(03:06):
front runner. But it's the voters that that got us
to where we are. And I don't know why you
would put us in this situation right now, because, as
you said earlier, these elections, they don't just affect the
country that you're in, whether it's here or India or
the UK coming up, but these these elections affect everybody
around the world.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
How worried did the Democrats Dan.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
I think they're I think they're very worried. I mean,
you have to admit. The next day, Joe Biden got
up and he admitted, you know, I don't move like
I used to, and I don't speak, and I don't
debate like I do. And then he went on the
attack about but I tell the truth, I think they're
going to have to make a decision fast. Who who
(03:48):
who would you bring in? Would you bring in Kamala Harris?
She pulls worse than Joe Biden does against Donald Trump?
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Right now?
Speaker 4 (03:56):
And then again, you have to ask yourself, would the
Democratic Party deny giving the nomination though to the first woman,
the first Black American, the first South Asian American to.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Be elected VP. That's kind of a I mean, that's
kind of hard to see at this point.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
It's quite a pickle, isn't it, Dan.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
It is, especially when you realize, and you hate to
say this, but it boils down to money. And right now,
lawmakers in Washington, D C. And mister Biden's attending a
couple of fundraisers and rallies today, they're getting, you know,
texts and calls and emails from lawmakers who who fear
that Biden's weakness could cost the party the House and
(04:33):
the Senate seats in November. And if you don't have
the backing of these these big money donors, you're not
going to get a fair chance in the race going
up against somebody like Donald Trump, because every time something
comes out against him, his backers seem to rally around
him even tighter, and he seems to do better in
the polls and better when it comes to fundraising.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
So, Dan, can the Democratic Party remove him from the
ticket or does he need to steep down?
Speaker 4 (05:01):
No, he really would need to be the one to make,
you know, make this decis I mean, could he be
forced out?
Speaker 3 (05:07):
He could. It would be unlikely, though, and you'd have lawsuits.
It would be a mess.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Summer saying well, what about the twenty fifth Amendment that
we have, which would allow the vice president and the
cabinet to say that President Biden cannot perform these duties
of office. But if that were to happen, and I
don't see that happening, It's never happened before. I mean,
the power would be transferred to the vice president, she
would serve as acting president. She would still have to
(05:32):
run against Donald Trump in November. So Kamala Harris is not,
no matter how you look at this, an automatic shoe
in not to mention that when you get together for
the convention in a couple of months and in August,
you have to win the majority of the delegates, just
like any other candidates. So she would have to get
the majority of delegates who have put their time and
(05:54):
their money and their voice behind Biden and get them
over to her. And they may say, we don't think
you can do it, and go for somebody else.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
I can't see Biden steeping down just because he is
somebody who's prided himself on stepping up when dealing with
tragedies or setbacks. You know, that's something that he prides
himself on. It's sort of you know, would go against
this sort of personal and political instincts, wouldn't it to say,
yep okay, yep okay, bad debate, I'll step away.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
It is And that's when you think that the person
is more important than the party or the country, and
no one person is more important than the office, or
the party or the country.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
And you can't tell Donald Trump that.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
I mean, nobody's going to come up and say you
should step aside and let somebody younger or somebody that
could bring the left and the right together and you know,
just sort of do what you're.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Going to do outside of the office.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
And somebody should have said to Joe Biden, look, you know,
Joe or mister Biden or President, you've served your country.
You've done this for fifty, you know, sixty plus years.
It's time to let somebody else take over and ures.
And that would have been a good way to have
gone out on a high note, even if his you know,
popularity and his ratings aren't as high as they once
were when he came into office. Now this is always
(07:15):
going to be a little asterisk by his name, no
matter the outcome.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
He has responded with some inadecient performances post the debate.
Are they reassuring people?
Speaker 4 (07:25):
You know, Biden has good days and Biden has bad days.
And the day after he came on and he was
on stage and you know, they were playing that was
a chumbawamba song. I think that was it. I get
knocked down, but I get up again. And you know,
you saw Joe Biden up there, and he has some energy.
But you watch him on stage walking around, and you
(07:47):
watch him when he meets with leaders, and he doesn't
do many press conferences or interviews with anybody. And there's
a reason why, and we know this. And even Donald
Trump during that debate when he came on stage, I
thought he looked very tired. I thought he looked very subdued.
I didn't think this was the Trump that we were
kind of expecting. I don't know why. Maybe he was
(08:08):
just sort of playing at low key and his advisor said, hey,
you know what, let's try something a little different this
time and see how that goes.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
How have Trump and the Republicans react did Are they
just sitting there with a ball of popcorn just watching
the show unfold?
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Oh? I think so? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (08:21):
They You know, this is what they're they've been saying,
we told you, we told you, and and you know,
to be fair, they're right in this case. You know,
you can't complain that the national news has chopped up
video clips to make Biden look bad. In this case,
you had ninety minutes with you know, one camera and
(08:43):
only two commercial breaks on this debate, with only two
people on the stage. And I also wondered too if
if not having an audience in the in this debate
if that helped or hurt both candidates, because I think
we know Donald Trump feeds off that he loves that,
and I wonder if that would have given Joe Biden
a little bit more energy as well. So it'll be
(09:05):
interesting see if when the next debate is held in
a couple of months on ABC, if they decide to
go the same way, or if they decided to bring
in an audience as we've seen in the past.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
We've heard awful lots from the commentators and through the
media about what they thought about the debate, but what
about just the general feeling amongst Americans heading into the selection.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
I think the debate was by the first ten minutes,
it was over. I think everybody was just I thought
the moderators did a fairly good job. Some people didn't
quite like the ability to turn the opponent's mike off.
But you know, it gets so frustrating hearing people talk
(09:49):
over one another because you can't hear what the other
person's saying. I think we hit a low bar, especially
with some of the comments made. When you're talking about
a candidate sex life and you're talking about the fact
that you have a felon on the stage, there were
a couple of good barbs back and forth. But if
you had asked me this ten years ago, would we
(10:11):
ever be in this place looking at a debate like this?
I would have said no, no, I mean, the office
is above this, but it's not. I mean, this is
just like local politics. It feels like sometimes.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Dan, really good to catch up with you. Thank you
for your time, especially in the weekend that was you
as correspondent Dan Mitchinson.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks edb.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
As I just mentioned the fallout continues across the US
following Friday's disastrous debate for the standing President Joe Biden.
The Democrats are now in damage control to talk us
through it all. US correspondent Dan Mitchinson joins me. Now,
Good morning, Dan.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Good morning. Francesca.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Hey took me through the reaction to Friday's debate.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Well, I think the best line was one that I
was just reading earlier today. That was from The Washington
Post's associate editor, Bob Woodward, and I think this kind
of encompasses everything. He said that this debate performance was
a political hydrogen bomb, and I think that's a great
way of describing it. But I also think the surprising
thing is that everyone is talking about this now, after
(00:54):
this one to ninety minute debate, when the signs have
been there for Joe Biden for the past couple of years.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Is that assignment of actually how good his team is
around him, how they've managed to, you know, to kind
of to reassure us, no, no, no, there is nothing to
be worried about. But this time, there was just nothing
they could do.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
I think, in fact, it's not even a team somebody
called it employees that he has working for him, because
it's a very close number of people, mostly family and friends,
including his wife, Joe Biden, doctor Joe Biden, and then
he basically has the final say.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
But they've done a fantastic job.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
And I've spoken with an interview I don't know countless
some of the top Democrats across the country, and each
time they've told me the behind closed doors, they don't
think Joe Biden is up for this job mentally or physically.
And yet they don't want Kamala Harris to step in.
They don't think she has the star power or the
experience to take over from Biden. But apparently nobody advisors
(02:00):
and that's what they're supposed to be doing, stepped up,
and we're willing to tell Joe Biden this to face.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I don't ask this blibly, but I think that a
lot of people are curious as to why the American
people have ended up with the choice of these two nominees.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
I think that is probably the best question you could ask,
and it's one that I am disappointed in with both parties,
and that I've been vocal about. I don't think anybody
has anyone to blame but themselves for the situation that
we're in. I don't think Republicans can't point fingers at
anybody else because they're the one that got Donald Trump
back here. Democrats certainly can't point fingers because there are
(02:44):
a few people out there. The Democrats and the Republicans
don't have a deep bench right now. As we saw
Pete Budajeedge, who's Secretary of Transportation Iran four years ago,
didn't make it something he's in the future. Gavin Newsom,
governor of California, fifth largest economy in the world, is
likely going to run in twenty twenty eight, and if
you were asked me right now, he is certainly the
(03:06):
front runner. But it's the voters that that got us
to where we are. And I don't know why you
would put us in this situation right now, because, as
you said earlier, these elections, they don't just affect the
country that you're in, whether it's here or India or
the UK coming up, but these these elections affect everybody
around the world.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
How worried did the Democrats Dan.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
I think they're I think they're very worried. I mean,
you have to admit. The next day, Joe Biden got
up and he admitted, you know, I don't move like
I used to, and I don't speak, and I don't
debate like I do. And then he went on the
attack about but I tell the truth, I think they're
going to have to make a decision fast. Who who
(03:48):
who would you bring in? Would you bring in Kamala Harris?
She pulls worse than Joe Biden does against Donald Trump?
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Right now?
Speaker 4 (03:56):
And then again, you have to ask yourself, would the
Democratic Party deny giving the nomination though to the first woman,
the first Black American, the first South Asian American to.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Be elected VP. That's kind of a I mean, that's
kind of hard to see at this point.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
It's quite a pickle, isn't it, Dan.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
It is, especially when you realize, and you hate to
say this, but it boils down to money. And right now,
lawmakers in Washington, D C. And mister Biden's attending a
couple of fundraisers and rallies today, they're getting, you know,
texts and calls and emails from lawmakers who who fear
that Biden's weakness could cost the party the House and
(04:33):
the Senate seats in November. And if you don't have
the backing of these these big money donors, you're not
going to get a fair chance in the race going
up against somebody like Donald Trump, because every time something
comes out against him, his backers seem to rally around
him even tighter, and he seems to do better in
the polls and better when it comes to fundraising.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
So, Dan, can the Democratic Party remove him from the
ticket or does he need to steep down?
Speaker 4 (05:01):
No, he really would need to be the one to make,
you know, make this decis I mean, could he be
forced out?
Speaker 3 (05:07):
He could. It would be unlikely, though, and you'd have lawsuits.
It would be a mess.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Summer saying well, what about the twenty fifth Amendment that
we have, which would allow the vice president and the
cabinet to say that President Biden cannot perform these duties
of office. But if that were to happen, and I
don't see that happening, It's never happened before. I mean,
the power would be transferred to the vice president, she
would serve as acting president. She would still have to
(05:32):
run against Donald Trump in November. So Kamala Harris is not,
no matter how you look at this, an automatic shoe
in not to mention that when you get together for
the convention in a couple of months and in August,
you have to win the majority of the delegates, just
like any other candidates. So she would have to get
the majority of delegates who have put their time and
(05:54):
their money and their voice behind Biden and get them
over to her. And they may say, we don't think
you can do it, and go for somebody else.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
I can't see Biden steeping down just because he is
somebody who's prided himself on stepping up when dealing with
tragedies or setbacks. You know, that's something that he prides
himself on. It's sort of you know, would go against
this sort of personal and political instincts, wouldn't it to say,
yep okay, yep okay, bad debate, I'll step away.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
It is And that's when you think that the person
is more important than the party or the country, and
no one person is more important than the office, or
the party or the country.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
And you can't tell Donald Trump that.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
I mean, nobody's going to come up and say you
should step aside and let somebody younger or somebody that
could bring the left and the right together and you know,
just sort of do what you're.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Going to do outside of the office.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
And somebody should have said to Joe Biden, look, you know,
Joe or mister Biden or President, you've served your country.
You've done this for fifty, you know, sixty plus years.
It's time to let somebody else take over and ures.
And that would have been a good way to have
gone out on a high note, even if his you know,
popularity and his ratings aren't as high as they once
were when he came into office. Now this is always
(07:15):
going to be a little asterisk by his name, no
matter the outcome.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
He has responded with some inadecient performances post the debate.
Are they reassuring people?
Speaker 4 (07:25):
You know, Biden has good days and Biden has bad days.
And the day after he came on and he was
on stage and you know, they were playing that was
a chumbawamba song. I think that was it. I get
knocked down, but I get up again. And you know,
you saw Joe Biden up there, and he has some energy.
But you watch him on stage walking around, and you
(07:47):
watch him when he meets with leaders, and he doesn't
do many press conferences or interviews with anybody. And there's
a reason why, and we know this. And even Donald
Trump during that debate when he came on stage, I
thought he looked very tired. I thought he looked very subdued.
I didn't think this was the Trump that we were
kind of expecting. I don't know why. Maybe he was
(08:08):
just sort of playing at low key and his advisor said, hey,
you know what, let's try something a little different this
time and see how that goes.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
How have Trump and the Republicans react did Are they
just sitting there with a ball of popcorn just watching
the show unfold?
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Oh? I think so? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (08:21):
They You know, this is what they're they've been saying,
we told you, we told you, and and you know,
to be fair, they're right in this case. You know,
you can't complain that the national news has chopped up
video clips to make Biden look bad. In this case,
you had ninety minutes with you know, one camera and
(08:43):
only two commercial breaks on this debate, with only two
people on the stage. And I also wondered too if
if not having an audience in the in this debate
if that helped or hurt both candidates, because I think
we know Donald Trump feeds off that he loves that,
and I wonder if that would have given Joe Biden
a little bit more energy as well. So it'll be
(09:05):
interesting see if when the next debate is held in
a couple of months on ABC, if they decide to
go the same way, or if they decided to bring
in an audience as we've seen in the past.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
We've heard awful lots from the commentators and through the
media about what they thought about the debate, but what
about just the general feeling amongst Americans heading into the selection.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
I think the debate was by the first ten minutes,
it was over. I think everybody was just I thought
the moderators did a fairly good job. Some people didn't
quite like the ability to turn the opponent's mike off.
But you know, it gets so frustrating hearing people talk
(09:49):
over one another because you can't hear what the other
person's saying. I think we hit a low bar, especially
with some of the comments made. When you're talking about
a candidate sex life and you're talking about the fact
that you have a felon on the stage, there were
a couple of good barbs back and forth. But if
you had asked me this ten years ago, would we
(10:11):
ever be in this place looking at a debate like this?
I would have said no, no, I mean, the office
is above this, but it's not. I mean, this is
just like local politics. It feels like sometimes.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Dan, really good to catch up with you. Thank you
for your time, especially in the weekend that was you
as correspondent Dan Mitchinson.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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