Cross Posted At Apt. 11D, the substack newsletter

Last night’s presidential debate was one of the most uncomfortable 90 minutes in recent memory. It was awful from the opening shuffle to the podium to the very end, when Jill patted him on the head and telling little Joey that did a good job. So much cringe. 

We all saw it. There is no way to spin it. And we’ve known if for a while. At a wedding for a friend’s daughter last fall, I whispered in the hallway with some big named political writers about what we all knew: Biden was too old. But we weren’t writing about it, because it seemed cruel to highlight his age and nobody wanted to deal with Trump. 

Last night, the quiet ended. On X, Democratic pundit were picking their replacement before the evening was over. The essays were finished before Trump stalked off stage. Incredible. 

Jon Stewart, my boyfriend, came back to his old self last night. He said that Biden had “resting 25th Amendment Face.” Check his out his rant on the Daily Show. Jon hasn’t been this funny in ages. I think he just revived his career. 

Trump lied his head off last night, but Biden couldn’t handle it. Biden could barely answer predictable questions that he must have rehearsed for a week. 

Trump restrained himself from going for the kill last night. Trump could have been meaner to Biden last night, but he didn’t. I think he actually felt pity for Biden, which makes that whole situation even sadder. 

Conspiracy theorists are saying that Biden’s minions purposely put Biden on early debate to force his hand to leave the race. That’s a little much for me. 

Who is going to step up? On X, they’re talking about Michelle Obama and Gretchen Whitmer. Can Biden recover? Fetterman is defending him and his allies are rallying around him.