Even in the heart of Biden's most pro-Biden neighborhood of Los Angeles County, the president is facing complaints after his dismal debate performance last week.
“Biden needs to sit down, take his medication and take a nap. He’s out of time,” said Daisy Williams, who voted for Biden in 2020 but said she would sit out the November election after watching last week’s debate. “I’ve never seen anything so crazy in my life. We’re in trouble … That debate was a joke.”
Biden’s debate performance, in which he expressed erratic and sometimes incoherent thoughts in a weak, raspy voice, has rattled even the most passionate Democrats. As the party shuddered and its leaders began hastily arguing over whether to replace the sitting president on the ticket, voters in the most deeply Democratic parts of Los Angeles County were also mulling Biden’s future.
California, and in particular Los Angeles County, which supported Biden by 71% in 2020, is a sea of support for the president. But some precincts in Inglewood and South Central Los Angeles are even more Democratic, with more than 94% supporting the president in the 2020 election.
In a series of informal interviews, some residents in these areas said they would support the president, while others said he should let someone else take on former President Trump in November — perhaps Vice President Kamala Harris.
In the West Athens neighborhood south of Inglewood, where Biden’s support in one district reached 95% in 2020, Williams expressed dismay about his chances for the presidency. If Biden were to step aside, he said he would reconsider his decision not to vote.
The 65-year-old certified nursing assistant called the choice between “a criminal and a person who has dementia.”
Biden does not have any form of dementia, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said. at a press conference Tuesday.
Biden has not publicly wavered from his commitment to running for re-election, though he has reportedly been discussing with his closest family members and advisers whether he should step aside.
A CNN poll released Tuesday showed that 56% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning registered voters believe their party would have a better chance of winning the election with a candidate other than Biden. The first polls released since the debate show Trump beating Biden.
(Faith Pinho/Los Angeles Times)
But Daniel Rodriguez, a Democrat who voted for Biden in 2020 and plans to do so again in November, was unfazed by Biden's shaky debate performance.
“I saw him, but I think he has a lot on his mind,” Rodriguez said. “He’s overwhelmed.”
As a caregiver for people between the ages of 50 and 90, Rodriguez, 50, said his job is to advocate for seniors and “support them 100 percent.” His job, Rodriguez said, has shown him that some older adults remain mentally sharp even if they don't always express themselves well.
“I see people who really had their heads on straight, who are still moving forward, who are still smart,” he said. “So [do] Don’t abandon them, you know? … In this country they have a voice and a vote.”
Janice Gatlin, 66, had the opposite reaction to the debate. She said she tried to look away from the television screen and Biden's spectacular failure, but couldn't stop watching and sat through the entire “bewildering” performance.
“Biden is at the age where it’s time to step down. Because he was lost! I felt ashamed for him. I was hurt, because I voted for him,” she said. Harris, she added, would be a good alternative. “It’s time for her to step up,” Gatlin said.
Biden made several public appearances after the debate, including an animated speech he delivered the next day at a rally in North Carolina. Critics said he appeared more energetic because he relied on a teleprompter. But for Gatlin, that didn’t matter: The president’s debate performance, he said, proved he was no longer fit for office.
“He needs to step back and think about the country,” Gatlin said, adding that other countries are watching the U.S. election. “Nobody is afraid of him. He doesn’t even speak loudly, he doesn’t have a bass in his voice, nothing.”
(Faith Pinho/Los Angeles Times)
For Antinya Walker, 19, who says she will vote in her first presidential election this fall, the debate made a simple decision: She will vote for Trump.
The Los Angeles resident, who was running an errand at a local Big Lots supermarket, said she believed Biden was anti-women’s rights. She blamed him for tightening abortion restrictions nationwide, though Trump takes credit for appointing the conservative Supreme Court justices who led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, quashing abortion access nationwide.
Abortion is widely seen as the Democrats’ winning ticket in the election. But on Thursday, Biden struggled to articulate a clear vision for restoring access to abortion care in the country, instead using a confusing metaphor about the trimesters of pregnancy and neglecting the Democrats’ key issue. Walker said she stopped watching the debate after hearing Biden’s “horrible” response to the question.
“How are we supposed to have faith in a president who can’t even communicate properly?” Walker said. “I feel like Trump is our best bet right now. I’m praying for America.”
(Faith Pinho/Los Angeles Times)
Still, in this bluer part of Los Angeles County, Biden retains supporters, people like Harvey Woodruff, a retired grocery store worker and security guard.
“He seemed a little fatigued. The man is on the job, what did you expect?” Woodruff said. He said he is grateful for Biden’s handling of the economy over the past four years. “Two thumbs up, great job. I don’t see any reason why we can’t have him there for another term.”
Trump poses a greater threat to the country's democracy, Woodruff said, adding that he hoped Trump would pardon his own criminal conviction if elected president.
The 67-year-old was riding his bike from his Inglewood neighborhood, where 95% of the vote went to Biden in 2020, to Darby Park on his way to meet a friend at the beach. After seeing Biden struggle in the debate, Woodruff said he was reminded to get a checkup with his doctor.
