Biden debate sparks Democratic nominee replacement talk

President Joe Biden‘s raspy, unfocused, often inarticulate and widely panned debate performance stoked deep anxiety among Democrats — and caused some commentators and fundraisers to openly call for a new nominee to run against former President Donald Trump.

But replacing Biden as the party’s pick less than five months out from Election Day carries enormous political risks and would be difficult, if not impossible, to pull off.

Right now, the only likely way Biden could be replaced is if he willingly ends his campaign.

And Biden’s aides and top Democratic officials say the 81-year-old incumbent has no plans to do so.

If he did drop out, Democrats have yet to identify a clear alternative candidate to swap in.

But the panic among donors and party officials after watching Biden falter Thursday night in his debate against Trump has led some of them to take steps to get Biden out of the race.

There are already discussions among Democratic fundraisers about trying to convince congressional leaders — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in particular — to urge Biden to announce to drop out, according to people familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity to speak freely.

Schumer, D-N.Y., is a top target for donors making that pitch because he privately has voiced concerns about Biden’s standings in presidential election polls, those people said.

Schumer was worried before the debate that Biden and Trump were statistically tied nationally, despite the Republican challenger’s conviction in his New York criminal hush money trial.

A spokesman for Schumer declined to comment to CNBC but pointed to a social media post the majority leader published after the debate.

Schumer in that X post wrote: “Tonight’s debate made the choice clear: Four more years of progress, or four more years of attacks on our fundamental rights and our democracy.”

“We’ve got to get out the vote for Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and a Democratic Senate and House!” the post said.

That spin has not alleviated the post-debate anxiety felt by some of the president’s top fundraisers.

Some of those wealthy donors have lost trust in Biden’s team, believing they were given false assurances about Biden’s ability to take on Trump.

And some of those donors who already planned to attend a high-dollar fundraiser Saturday in the Hamptons section of Long Island say they will attend the event to judge for themselves whether Biden can continue as a viable candidate.

“Democrats are in a very difficult situation because it’s late in the…