I'm astonished. Truly, I did not expect Thursday night's debate to go as badly as it did for the sitting president. On that front, I feel like I should apologize to my readers for suggesting that Biden would probably hold his own for the first half hour before the uppers wore off. I was wrong, and it was so much worse than predicted. 

As a litany of RedState articles have already pointed out, Joe Biden didn't come out swinging. Instead, he came out comatose and barely understandable at times. The debate was barely a few minutes old before Donald Trump delivered a knock-out blow. 

WATCH: Trump Delivers a Knock-Out Blow Early in the Debate

BIDEN: *rambles incoherently about his failure to secure the border*

TRUMP: "I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either." pic.twitter.com/lxBpOVeTqJ

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 28, 2024

The ultimate test wasn't what right-leaning news sites had to say, though. We were always going to tell the truth about Biden's performance. That was much less certain when it came to the mainstream press. There was a possible scenario where the president fumbled the ball and appeared feeble but wasn't quite so terrible that Joe Scarborough of MSNBC and Chris Wallace of CNN, among others, couldn't provide workable spin. 

They weren't able to. After months of claiming Biden was cognitively sharp and prepared for a second term, Scarborough essentially called for the president to drop out of the race. As for Wallace, his criticism was even more pointed: 

CHRIS WALLACE: This has been, quite frankly, a car accident in slow motion that we've seen over & over...

Joe Biden sought this remarkably early time because he knew he was losing and he needed to change the narrative. He changed the narrative: he sunk his campaign tonight. pic.twitter.com/ivXWXfYAul

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) June 28, 2024

WALLACE: This has been, quite frankly, a car accident in slow motion that we've seen over and building and questioning it, and has been pointed out, Joe Biden sought this debate at this remarkably early time because he knew he was losing, and he needed to change the narrative, and he did change the narrative. He sunk his campaign tonight.

I'm a natural cynic, so it's hard for me to proclaim that the race is over. Four months is a lot of time, and there's no question that Democrats have a few more tricks up their sleeves. It's also possible, though seemingly more improbable, that Biden's handlers could get the dosage right for the second debate and slightly shift perceptions. 

With that said, what happened during the first debate was undeniably a disaster for Joe Biden. This wasn't John Fetterman up there being incoherent because he had a stroke, a situation that ended up playing into his favor because, for better or worse, Pennsylvanians believed he'd recover. The president is old. He's not going to de-age. What you saw on that stage was the high point for Biden. It's only going to get worse from here.

Again, it was so awful that not even the most loyal of Democrat-leaning talking heads could come up with an excuse. Do you want more proof? I never thought I'd type these words, but Biden has lost Joy Reid: 

JOY REID:

"My phone never really stopped buzzing throughout. The universal reaction was...approaching panic!" pic.twitter.com/KNRAeb2S1s

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 28, 2024

Some may disagree with me saying it's not over yet, but the fat lady is belting out warm-up runs. Democrats have to seriously consider pushing Biden aside. How does that happen? I'm not sure it can happen. Not unless he chooses to voluntarily step down by citing a "new" health issue. Even then, the fight over Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom being the replacement at the convention would tear the party apart. 

Democrats chose this path. They put their own selfish ambitions over the country, and in doing so, they put every American in danger. They deserve the corner they've painted themselves into.