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”.
Campaign spokesperson Michael Tyler said there were no conversations taking place about the possibility of Biden dropping out. “We’d rather have one bad night than a candidate with a bad vision for where he wants to take the country,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.
On the chances of Biden being replaced by another candidate, Trump said: “I don’t really believe that because he does better in polls than any of the (other) Democrats.”
Questions about Trump’s fitness for office have also arisen over his conviction last month in New York for covering up hush money payments to a porn star, his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his chaotic term in office.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jul 11, just days before his party convenes to formally nominate him. He still faces three other criminal indictments, although none appears likely to reach trial before November.
A second debate is scheduled for Sep 10.
