Joe Biden soundly defeats Joe Biden

President Joe Biden lost the first presidential debate in less than 14 minutes. That isn’t to say that former President Donald Trump didn’t excel — he did — but no one-liner hit the incumbent harder than the incumbent hit himself.

By minute 18, Biden had even flubbed the abortion question: mumbling, muttering, changing the subject to illegal immigration, and then tossing the ball back to Trump to hit it out of the park.

Even when given a second chance, and doing a little better, Biden failed to wound an opponent willing to call the Democratic Party out on its own abortion policies. “He's willing to rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month,” Trump challenged, “and kill the baby. ... We think the Democrats are the radicals. Not the Republicans.”

By 9:50, the White House was telling reporters the boss had a cold, and the palace guard in the press was rushing in to explain away the evening’s disaster.

Trump was his old self, confident and agile without bullying. By the time the border really was the topic, he landed his first authentic laugh-out-loud line in response to a rambling and incoherent Biden: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of this.”

By contrast, the current president looked lost for the first 20 minutes especially. His eyes were closed. He mumbled. He lost his place, having a “Rick Perry moment" every single answer of the first half hour, traditionally the most important part of the debate, before Americans begin to tune out.

“The voice, open-mouthed look, and visual contrast between President Biden and former President Trump all have Democrats I'm talking to nearly beside themselves watching this debate,” CNN’s own Kasie Hunt tweeted.

Biden caught himself by about the end of that first crucial half-hour. His eyes began to blink to life; he seemed to gain better control of his facial expressions. BlazeTV host Steve Deace pointed out in the debate pre-show that dementia is more manageable once you're warmed up and harder when you’re cold. Maybe that was the case. Either way, it was too late for the old man in the White House.

This was unexpected. People can joke all they want about Biden’s public mental decline, but he generally performs when it’s needed. Sure, there was a teleprompter at the State of the Union and in Normandy, but maybe his best moment in his last congressional address was when he went off the cuff on illegal immigrant murderers, though he ended up apologizing.

Then again, we hadn’t seen Biden perform in a debate in four years. The decline is real, and it’s week to week. “Look, I debated Joe 7 times in 2020,” former Democratic nominee Andrew Yang tweeted. “He’s a different guy in 2024.”

It’s important to remember that the debate took place entirely on Biden’s terms, including the stipulation that the hosts control the microphones and that there’s no studio audience for the first time since Richard Nixon debated John F. Kennedy in 1960.

By 9:50, the White House was telling reporters the boss had a cold, and the palace guard in the press was rushing in to explain away the evening’s disaster.

Biden needed this win. Nearly every single poll is going the wrong way for him, and he bombed it. There are still nearly two months until the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. D.C. loves imagining political parlor games like replacing the nominee. This time, it might be true, but the reality is that it would take Biden himself withdrawing. The postgame panel on MSNBC was in full panic, talking about replacing him off the top and referring to their man as "extremely feeble ... extremely weak."

“He believes he’s the only one who can win,” MCNBC host Joy Reid said. “The problem is the party doesn’t believe it.”

The next debate is Sept. 10 — just a few short weeks after the Dems make their choice in the Windy City.

Glenn Beck:Voters crave answers, not theatrics, at Thursday’s debate

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IN OTHER NEWS

Trump rising in polls on the eve of the debate

Polls going into the debate favored Trump virtually across the board, despite the former president’s convictions and a full month of Biden advertising blitz trying to make “felon” stick to Trump and hurt him.

Nationally, the RealClearPolitics average put him ahead by 1.3 points while the latest Quinnipiac poll, taken between June 20 and 24, put him four points ahead.

And remember all those young people who flocked to vote for President Barack Obama? Well, they're Trump voters now. The 18- to 29-year-old age group went for Obama by 33 points in 2008. Now, Echelon Insights pollster Patrick Ruffini points out that those voters are between 30 and 44 years old and are Trump +5 — a 38-point swing.

Ryan Tyson, a partner at P2 Insights and the former pollster for Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign, released polling Wednesday showing that between June 11 and 20, Trump was winning in the key swing states Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin. Not only that, but his lead had increased in all of the above but Michigan.

When he entered office in January 2021, Biden enjoyed a 59% approval rating — 23 points higher than Trump’s. Today, Gallup puts Biden's number at 12 points below Trump’s.

Meanwhile, despite constant White House messaging, a Washington Post poll of registered voters conducted between April 15 and May 30 found that while voters are concerned about "threats to our democracy," they trust Trump over Biden on the issue, 44%-33%.

All three Republicans who filibustered the South Carolina heartbeat bill lost their primaries

South Carolina state Sen. Katrina Shealy conceded her primary Tuesday night, making her the third of the three Republican state senators who had filibustered her party's heartbeat law to lose their seats.

Shealy rose to prominence when she joined fellow Republican state Sens. Sandy Senn and Penry Gustafson, along with Democratic state Sens. Margie Bright Matthews and Mia McLeod, to hold up pro-life legislation following the 2022 repeal of Roe v. Wade.

The five politicians were even awarded the JFK Profile in Courage medal by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, but while they were lauded in Massachusetts, their own constituents were less than thrilled — and all three Republicans were sent packing this June.

Meanwhile, the South Carolina Freedom Caucus defended its incumbents despite an estimated $2-$3 million spent to unseat them.

While it can be tempting to assume most red states have conservative governance, the reality is that it's common for state politicians to vote to the left of their constituents. Conservatives, however, have made surprising gains in primary elections around the country this cycle.

State Freedom Caucus members held their seats against teachers’ union attacks in Illinois, where teachers’ unions spent a whopping $700,000 to take two Illinois Freedom Caucus members out, as well as in Pennsylvania.

Blaze News: Grassroots conservatives score an upset win in Indiana