Politics
Biden Presidential Debate Performance Sends Democrats Into Panic
John King, CNN’s chief national correspondent, says the Democratic party is looking to replace President Joe Biden as its presumptive nominee ahead of its national convention in August.
Biden sparred with former US President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, on Friday, in a debate hosted by CNN.
The incumbent’s speech was at times slurred, throaty, incoherent and his ripostes came across as weak.
At one point, as the candidates debated on border closure and immigration, a gloating Trump said: “I really don’t understand what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
Analysing the performances of both candidates afterwards, all the CNN panellists submitted that Biden had done himself little favours on the night.
“It was a game changing debate in the sense that right now as we speak, there is a deep, a wide and a very aggressive panic in the Democratic party,” said King.
“The panic started minutes into the debate and continues right now. It involves party strategists, it involves elected officials, it involves fund-raisers.
“And they are having conversations about the president’s performance which they think was dismal, which they think will hurt other people down the party in the ticket. They are having conversations about what they should do about it.
“Some of those conversations include should we go to the White House and ask the president to step aside? Other conversations are about should prominent Democrats go public with that call? Because they think this debate was so terrible.
“They do say, in moments in the debate later, the president got better and got his footing. But then in the end, even his closing statement was a little halty. The contrast between the two candidates was stark.”
Abby Phillip, CNN anchor and a senior political correspondent who anchors CNN NewsNight, said Biden’s performance was “problematic” and “damaging”.
Other panellists said Biden was “deeply vulnerable”, his voice was “shaky”, and that Democrats are worried that they could be throwing away the presidency if Biden remains top of the ticket.
Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, sparred on the Russia-Ukraine war, Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, treatment of veterans, abortion, taxes, Medicare, inflation, Afghanistan, and America’s standing in the world — with the Republican repeatedly putting the Democrat on the offensive.
Trump was US president from 2017 to 2021. He lost his re-election bid to Biden and challenged the outcome of the vote in an unprecedented manner.
His supporters infamously invaded the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021 as Trump insisted that the election was stolen from him.
The Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, has initiated impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Deputy Ngozi Odu, issuing them a seven-day notice to respond to allegations of gross misconduct.
The Assembly cited eight specific allegations of gross misconduct as the basis for the move.
This is the third time Fubara and Odu would be facing impeachment proceedings from the Assembly since coming to office in 2023.
Attempts to impeach them in 2023 and 2025, amid political feuds between the Governor and his predecessor and erstwhile political god-father, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, had been halted by presidential intervention.
Here are the allegations below:
1. Reckless and unconstitutional expenditure of public funds
2. Unconstitutional misappropriation of public funds
3. Hindering the Rivers Assembly from performing its constitutional duties
4. Illegal appointments of persons without screening by the House of Assembly as provided by the Constitution
5. Seizure of salaries and funds meant for Assembly members
6. Seizure of salaries of the clerk of the Rivers House of Assembly, Emeka Amadi
7. Refusal to implement provisions of the Constitution on financial autonomy of the legislature and the judiciary
8. Withholding of funds meant for the running of the Rivers House of Assembly Service Commission and hindering its activities
Lilian Adebayo, the wife of the 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, has said that the party will unseat the ruling All Progressive Party at the 2027 election if Nigerians are true to themselves.
Mrs Adebayo made this assertion known on Wednesday during an interview with journalists after an event in Abuja.
According to her, the opposition party has overcome its crisis after the expulsion of its former chairman, Shehu Gabam and others.
She said Nigerians should vote the APC out in the 2027 general election due to the hardship the party has plunged citizens into.
“There is always a crisis in the party; the SPD has been able to handle its own. The problems in the party have been resolved.
“He has a great chance of winning the election if Nigerians are honest with themselves. If Nigerians think that the ones they consistently vote for would move the country forward, they live in denial,” she concerning the husband.
Recall that SDP recently expelled Gabam and other party executives.
The party’s state chairmen on Wednesday urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the police to investigate Gabam over alleged misappropriation.
In a significant political move, Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah officially defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.
Mbah announced his decision during a televised broadcast in Enugu after weeks of speculation.
He said, “Today, after a long reflection, we have made the decision to leave the Peoples Democratic Party and join the All Progressives Congress.”
Mbah explained that his decision to join the PDP was informed by the need to reshape Enugu and reorganise the politics of the state.
“Today, I stand before you to announce a break from the past and to share a decision that will shape the road ahead. This concerns our values, how we organize ourselves politically and how we secure the future of our project and our people.
“Leadership sometimes demands painful decisions in the service of higher principles and goals. And there comes a time, when everyone must make a bold choice to determine their destiny.”
Ahead of the governor’s defection, all members of his cabinet had on joined the ruling party.
Governor Mbah’s Senior Media Aide, Dan Nwomeh, confirmed the mass defection in a video posted on his social media handles on Monday. In the video, several government officials were seen openly declaring their allegiance to the APC, chanting praises for President Bola Tinubu and affirming their commitment to the new party.
“Enugu State Cabinet Members join the APC with full chest along with Governor PN Mbah,” Nwomeh stated.
The officials, including commissioners and top aides, could be heard in the video declaring, “We are now in APC; tomorrow is here; it is APC all the way; it is Jagaban all the way; from top to bottom.”
The collective defection marks a significant political shift in Enugu State, which has been a PDP stronghold since 1999.
Boko Haram Demands $300,000 Ransom For Abducted Borno Ex-LG Chair, Another Victim
How Rivers Women Spread Wrappers For Wike’s Motorcade During Port Harcourt Visit
Impeachment Proceedings Against Fubara, Deputy Still Active – Rivers Assembly
Your Second Coming Was A Chance To Avoid These Political Mistakes – Fayose To Fubara
Corruption Battle: Dangote Drags Ex-NMDPRA Boss To EFCC After ICPC Withdrawal
Rivers Crisis: Full List Of 8 Misconduct Allegations Against Governor Fubara
Panic In Ibadan As Rising Kidnap, Robbery Threats Trigger Official Red Alert
Wizkid Becomes First African Artist To Enter Spotify’s 10 Billion Streams Elite
Funke Akindele’s Behind The Scenes Becomes West Africa’s All-Time Box Office King
Rivers Assembly Formally Serves Impeachment Notice To Gov. Fubara
-
News2 days agoYour Second Coming Was A Chance To Avoid These Political Mistakes – Fayose To Fubara
-
News1 day agoImpeachment Proceedings Against Fubara, Deputy Still Active – Rivers Assembly
-
News1 day agoHow Rivers Women Spread Wrappers For Wike’s Motorcade During Port Harcourt Visit
-
News8 hours agoBoko Haram Demands $300,000 Ransom For Abducted Borno Ex-LG Chair, Another Victim