Biden Began a History-Making Month With a Debate Joke He Probably Regrets

Thirty minutes before the historic June 27 presidential debate, President Joe Biden made a joke he likely regrets following his poor debate performance and eventual decision to dropout from the race.

In response to accusations from Republicans and then-presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, who has accepted the party’s nomination, that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his MarchState of the Union (SOTU) address since he appeared more energetic and might do the same in his debate against Trump, Biden posted a joke on his official X, formerly Twitter, page.

“I don’t know what they’ve got in these performance enhancers, but I’m feeling pretty jacked up. Try it yourselves, folks. See you in a bit,” he wrote on June 27. The president’s post accompanied two photos of him holding a can of water featuring his face with red eyes on it, with the can’s text reading, “Get Real, Jack. It’s just water.”

Newsweek has reached out to Biden’s former campaign press team for comment via email on Sunday.

A month since his joke, the entire political landscape has changed.

The Debate

On June 27, Biden and Trump faced off for the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle, although the politicians have previously debated during the 2020 election. The debate, hosted by CNN without a live audience, took place in Atlanta.

Biden’s performance was widely regarded as low-energy and unconvincing. He faced criticism from his own party, with many Democratic voters, politicians, and commentators immediately pointing to his stumbling and sometimes incoherent and hard-to-hear responses as worrisome.

Questions about Biden’s mental sharpness and age flared up during and immediately after the debate, following the 81-year-old’s weak performance. Trump, 78, has also faced criticism for his age and mental acuity.

A Biden aide, meanwhile, told Newsweek late that night that the president was battling a cold during the debate.

The Aftermath

Since the debate, over 30 Democratic Congress members called for Biden to step aside, urging the Democrats to put forward a new candidate at the top of the ticket.

Pressure from top party leaders like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi began to mount, with Pelosi responding to calls about whether she wanted Biden in the race on MSNBC‘s Morning Joe two weeks after the debate: “I want him to do whatever he decides to do. And that’s the way it is. Whatever he decides, we go with.”

In mid-July, according to a Washington Post report, former President Barack Obama, who selected Biden as his running mate, confided in his allies that he is concerned about the viability of Biden’s reelection campaign.

Donors and public backers of Biden’s campaign, like actor George Clooney who calls himself a “lifelong Democrat” and a Biden admirer, also faltered on their support for Biden over concerns of his ability to win the election and serve four more years.

Clooney wrote a New York Times op-ed titled, “I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee,” where he wrote, “We are not going to win in November with this president. On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate. This isn’t only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and congress member and governor that I’ve spoken with in private. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly.”

On the other hand, there have been growing calls among Republicans to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove the president from office. The amendment would deem Biden “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” and thus, Vice President Kamala Harris would oversee the nation from its highest office.

In the days following the debate, as concerns about his age and mental acuity were at a peak, Biden accidentally called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “Putin” during a speech about the United States supporting Ukraine in its ongoing war against Russia. In a speech later that day, he mistakenly called Harris, “Vice President Trump.” The double gaffe further fueled calls questioning his capability to run the country for another term.

Biden also began to slip in the presidential polls against Trump. His approval rating also fell, with the national poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight showing 55.6 percent of Americans disapproved of Biden, while 38.8 percent approved, as of July 26.

Dropping Out

Despite repeatedly reaffirming his commitment to staying in the presidential race, on Sunday, July 21, Biden announced his exit from the race, seemingly heeding calls from within the Democratic Party. Moments later, he publicly endorsed Harris for president.

His announcement came just over 100 days before Election Day, which is on November 5, and less than 30 days before the Democratic National Convention (DNC) begins in Chicago on August 19.

In a national address Wednesday night, Biden said that he dropped out of the race to “pass the torch to a new generation,” regardless of his own “personal ambition” to win and serve out a second term. The president said that the likely election between Harris and Trump would be a choice “between moving forward or backward.”

Biden said he will continue to serve out his term, which ends on January 20, 2025.

“Over the next six months I’ll be focused on doing my job as president,” he said, echoing his platform policies like “lowering costs for hardworking families,” “defending personal freedoms,” and “calling out hate and extremism.”

In the past week, Harris has rallied former Biden supporters to donate and back her campaign for the Oval Office.