Former Obama adviser Van Jones speaks out in favor of Biden after the debate on CNN

Van Jones, the former adviser to Barack Obama, his voice broke as he searched for words to describe Joe Biden’s disastrous debate on Thursday, musing that Democrats may need a new candidate to challenge Donald Trump.

Jones, now a political analyst at CNN, was one of the first on the network to criticize Biden’s performance. He sounded hoarse, gave incoherent answers and seemed lost for much of the evening.

“I love this guy. He’s a good man. He loves his country. He’s doing the best he can,” Jones said of Biden. “But he had to pass a test tonight to restore the confidence of the country and the base. And he failed to do that.”

The comments from Jones, who has never shied away from showing his admiration for Biden over the years, were an indictment of the president’s poor performance.

Jones, like other participants on the CNN post-debate panel, said it was time for the DNC to seriously consider nominating a new candidate at the Democratic National Convention in August – although he did not specify who that should be.

“We are still a long way from our convention and there is still time for this party to find another way forward,” he said. “But that was not what we needed from Joe Biden and personally it was painful for a lot of people. It’s not just panic, it’s the pain of what we saw tonight.”

Jones added that Biden lost it “in the first three minutes.” Countless other analysts have noted the same thing — that Biden, barely audible, struggled to speak clearly when faced with the first question of the night. He appeared frail and unfocused, which at 81 is the exact opposite of what his camp expected of him.

John King, CNN’s chief national affairs correspondent, was the first analyst to analyze Biden’s “disappointing” performance after the debate — probably while many of them were still staring at the network in shock. He spoke pointedly about Biden’s failure to fact-check Trump’s statements and claimed that Democrats across the country were attacking his phone because they fear that a ballot with Biden in the lead would hurt every Democrat below him.

“The panic I’m hearing from Democrats is like nothing I’ve ever heard,” he said.

King noted that Biden even had a hard time making meaningful statements when talking about his own political beliefs – especially on abortion, a hugely important issue for Democrats this legislative session.

“Biden’s answers have been inconclusive in many cases,” he said. “It’s deeply problematic that he hasn’t been able to give the American public fairly clear answers.”

Jones and King were joined by numerous other voices who are normally pro-Biden and who felt similarly. CNN commentator Abby Phillip said, “There is real damage that can’t be undone,” and a Democratic strategist told NBC News that the party had “committed collective suicide.”

Biden’s re-election is doomed by disastrous debate

David Axelrod, CNN star and chief architect of former President Barack Obama’s election victories, put it bluntly on Thursday night: Democrats must have serious discussions about replacing Biden if they want to have any chance at all in a tough election campaign in November.

“There was a sense of shock. There will be a discussion about whether he should continue,” Axelrod said, referring to Biden. “That one night helped confirm people’s fears. It’s the event that everyone watched in one night.”

Meanwhile, Chris Wallace said on CNN that the debate was “frankly a car crash in slow motion.” Biden, he added, had “ruined his campaign.”

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