Sawt Falasteen - Biden seeks to repair debate damage with fiery speech

Biden's appearance at a campaign rally in the battleground state of North Carolina came amid rumblings in his alarmed Democratic party about replacing the 81-year-old as their nominee.

"I don't walk as easy as I used to. I don't speak as smoothly as I used to. I don't debate as well as I used to," Biden admitted to supporters in unusually confessional remarks.

"But I know how to tell the truth. I know how to do this job," he said to huge cheers, vowing "when you get knocked down, you get back up."

Biden's team was in damage-control mode after Thursday's debate when he often hesitated, tripped over words and lost his train of thought -- exacerbating fears about his ability to serve another term.

He had hoped to allay qualms about his advanced age, and to expose Trump as a habitual liar.

But the president failed to counter his bombastic rival, who delivered an unchallenged reel of false or misleading statements about everything from the economy to immigration.

On Friday, Biden delivered the lines that Democrats wished they had heard in the televised debate.

"Did you see Trump last night? My guess is he set a new record for the most lies told in the single debate," Biden said.

"Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation. He's a threat to our freedom. He's a threat to our democracy. He's literally a threat for everything America stands for."

Trump also returned to the campaign trail on Friday, speaking at a rally in Virginia and launching his familiar attacks on Biden in a rambling speech.

"It's not his age, it's his competence," Trump said.

"The question every voter should be asking themselves today is not whether Joe Biden can survive a 90-minute debate performance, but whether America can survive four more years of crooked Joe Biden."

- A new Democrat? -

Trump addressed the chances of Biden being replaced by another candidate, saying "I don't really believe that because he does better in polls than any of the (other) Democrats."

So far, no senior Democratic figure has publicly called on Biden to withdraw, with most toeing a party line about sticking with the existing ticket.

"I will never turn my back on President Biden," California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has figured prominently on lists of possible replacement candidates, said immediately after the debate.

Forcing a change in the ticket would be politically fraught, and Biden would have to decide himself to withdraw to make way for another nominee before the party convention next month.

Biden overwhelmingly won the primary votes, and the party's 3,900 delegates heading to the convention in Chicago are beholden to him.

If he exits, the delegates would have to find a replacement.

"Bad debate nights happen," Biden's former boss, Barack Obama, wrote on X.

But the election is "still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself."

A strong -- but not automatic -- candidate to take Biden's place would be his vice president, Kamala Harris, who loyally defended his debate performance.

Trump allies sought to project calm assurance as the Democrats scrambled.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a senior Republican figure, said it was clear that Biden was not "up to the job."

"Donald Trump is the only man on that stage that's qualified and capable of serving as the next president. The election cannot get here soon enough."

The debate drew 47.9 million viewers across all channels on Thursday evening, according to CNN -- down sharply from their 2020 clash.

A second debate is scheduled for September 10.

B.Mahmoud--SF-PST