Could Biden be replaced as the Democratic presidential candidate and how would that work?
After his confused live debate performance, the Democrats were left wondering if they chose the wrong man as their Presidential candidate, as Washington Correspondent Dan Rivers reports
Words by Daniel Boal, ITV News Producer
Joe Biden's halting performance at the first televised debate of the US election has invited an unwelcomed question for the Democratic Party - did they choose the wrong man?
At the top of the 81-year-old's agenda for the debate was to put to rest voter concerns about his age and turn the election into a referendum on Trump. But, if anything, his performance only exacerbated voters' fears.
His manner during the CNN debate sparked panic within his own party and some are now actively discussing something what would usually be unspeakable - replacing him on the ballot paper.
But even if the Democrats wanted to, can they?
ITV News takes a look if Biden could be forced out, would he withdraw himself and who could replace him.
Can he be forced out?
Neither of the two US parties have ever tried to force an election candidate to drop out of a presidential election.
In order to force Biden out the door, the Democrats would need to overturn the results of the state primaries.
The vote, which took place earlier this year, confirmed Biden as a virtually unopposed pick for November's election.
Under current Democratic Party rules, it would be almost impossible to replace Biden without his cooperation or without the party officials being willing to rewrite its rules at the August national convention.
There are realistically two ways that Biden could be replaced.
First, a US president can be replaced under the 25th amendment, if he dies or reigns then the vice president takes over.
The president can also make the VP the acting president if they are "unable to discharge the power and duties of his office", such as when Biden had a colonoscopy in 2021 and powers were temporarily transferred to Kamala Harris.
To block the president's return in this situation, and keep the VP in power, there would need to be a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress to keep the VP in power.
Secondly, would be at the convention where Party rules state: "Delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them".
However, while the delegates are pledged to vote for Biden, this would not prevent votes against, although this is something that is very unlikely to happen.
To win a presidential nomination, you need the majority of your party's 4,000 delegates to back you. Biden won around 3,900 at the primaries.
Can he withdraw himself?
Realistically, the only scenario that would enable the Democrats to choose a new candidate to take on Trump would be for Biden to withdraw.
Biden has repeatedly dismissed the notion of stepping down but if he did abandon his campaign, the 81-year-old would need to release his delegates from their obligation to vote for him at August's convention.
With no clear candidate being in place to step into the president's shoes, such a U-turn could destablise the Democratic party.
If Biden were to abruptly leave the race, conservative groups have suggested they will file lawsuits around the country, potentially questioning the legality of the Democratic candidate's name on the ballot.
Could Vice President Kamala Harris replace Biden?
If Biden was to step down voluntarily before the election, vice president Kamala Harris would become president until the end of his administration. If he was to quit after being re-elected, she would also become president for the second term.
But as Biden's running mate, she cannot step up to fill the Democratic candidacy by default.
If Biden opts to abandon his re-election campaign, Harris would likely join other top Democratic candidates looking to replace him.
But that would probably create a scenario where she and others end up lobbying individual state delegations at the convention for their support.
That hasn't happened for Democrats since 1960, when John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson jockeyed for votes during that year’s Democratic convention in Los Angeles.
Harris's poll numbers have been consistently worse than Biden's throughout their administration.
Who could replace Biden aside from Harris?
Gavin Newsom.
The California governor talked down the possibility of replacing Biden on the ballot to reporters in the spin room on Thursday evening.
The 56-year-old said any alternative to the incumbent president was "nonsensical speculation".
However, he is widely thought to hold ambitions of making it to the Oval Office, and last year drew the ire of the Biden administration after holding a primetime debate with Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
The debate was thought by some as the pair putting themselves in the shop window and previewing the 2028 presidential contest.
Gretchen Whitmer. On the shortlist for Biden's VP pick in 2020, the Michigan governor cruised to re-election in 2022.
She has led the Democrats in Michigan to strong midterms and has been credited with helping the party to flip both houses in the state's legislature.
Have you heard our new podcast Talking Politics? Every day in the run-up to the election Tom, Robert and Anushka dig into the biggest issues dominating the political agenda…