President Biden’s widely panned debate performance has sparked a firestorm of speculation on whether Democrats will switch horses midstream and select a new presidential nominee from a generally accepted list of candidates.

Harris, 59, would seemingly be the most logical fit, offering the smoothest transition given her position as vice president, and some calls for her to step in have already been issued.

‘After deep reflection over these past few days, I strongly believe that our best path forward is Kamala Harris,’ Tim Ryan, the former Democrat congressman and presidential candidate, wrote in Newsweek on Monday.

Many experts have raised concerns about the vice president’s approval rating as her poll numbers have plummeted since taking office. Earlier this year, polling showed Harris was viewed negatively by a combined 53% of registered voters and positively by a combined 28% of voters.

If Democrats were to make a move away from Biden, potentially at the Democratic National Convention in August, the most talked about successor in recent months has been California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Newsom, 56, has long been accused of running a ‘shadow campaign’ for president over the past year as he has engaged in high-profile events, including trips to China and Israel, and a highly publicized Fox News debate with Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Newsom, who is headed to New Hampshire this week to headline a Democrat campaign event just days after Biden’s debate performance, has consistently denied any plans to step in for Biden.

‘I will never turn my back on President Biden,’ Newsom said on Thursday after the debate. ‘I don’t know a Democrat in my party that would do so. And especially after tonight, we have his back.’

Newsom added, ‘I spent a lot of time with him. I know Joe Biden. I know what he’s accomplished in the last three and a half years. I know what he’s capable of. And I have no trepidations.’

Whitmer, who won re-election in 2022 by a double-digit margin, has previously hinted at interest in a presidential run and has reportedly vaulted to the top of the list in terms of donor preference in recent weeks.

Online supporters have been pushing a ‘Draft Gretch’ message, and Politico reported after the debate that Whitmer spoke with Democratic Party leadership and disavowed that movement while also warning that Michigan is no longer in play for Biden.

Whitmer later dismissed that reporting and reaffirmed her support for Biden.

‘I am proud to support Joe Biden as our nominee and I am behind him 100 percent in the fight to defeat Donald Trump,’ Whitmer said in a statement on Monday. ‘Not only do I believe Joe can win Michigan, I know he can because he’s got the receipts.’

Buttigieg burst onto the national scene in 2020 when he ran for president after serving eight years as the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, inspiring the nickname ‘Mayor Pete.’

Speculation has continued to grow that he would be willing to step in if Biden were to drop out of the race, but lukewarm polling numbers and transportation issues across the United States could potentially harm a Buttigieg candidacy. 

‘No, that’s easy,’ Buttigieg said Friday when asked if he would support an effort to find a new nominee.

Shapiro, 51, is governor of perhaps the most critical swing state in the 2024 presidential election, and polling last year showed him with a 57% job approval rating against 23% who disapprove.

Shapiro took office in January 2023 after beating his Republican opponent by nearly 15 points.

‘Popular governor of a critical swing state,’ Allegheny County Republican Party Chair Sam DeMarco posted on X after the presidential debate. ‘If you don’t think he’s getting calls tonight, you’re deluding yourself.’

Pritzker, who was re-elected in 2022 by about 12 points, delivered a victory speech that many believed sounded like a politician who wants to run for president one day.

Pritzker said earlier this year that Democrats are ‘throwing away their votes’ if they support anyone besides Biden.

Pritzker, 57, a billionaire equity investor and philanthropist, has been one of the most outspoken Democrats against former President Trump.

Beshear, from one of the most popular political families in Kentucky, won re-election in the deep-red state last year as a Democrat and has recently been rumored to be a top candidate to step in and replace Biden.

Beshear told reporters Monday that even though Biden’s recent debate performance was ‘rough,’ he has no intention of sliding into presidential contention unless Biden bows out of the race.

‘He is the candidate, and as long as he is, I’m supporting him,’ Beshear said.

Trump has gone ahead of Biden in their 2024 election rematch in the aftermath of last week’s presidential debate, according to a new national poll conducted in the wake of Biden’s extremely rough performance.

The former president stands at 41% support and Biden at 38% among registered voters nationwide in a USA Today/Suffolk University survey conducted Friday through Sunday and released on Tuesday.

The Democrat incumbent in the White House and his Republican predecessor were tied at 37% in the previous USA Today/Suffolk University poll, which was conducted in May.

On Tuesday, the first elected Democrat in Congress called on Biden to step down.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas said in a statement that Biden should ‘make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw.’

‘My decision to make these strong reservations public is not done lightly nor does it in any way diminish my respect for all that President Biden has achieved,’ Doggett said. ‘Recognizing that, unlike Trump, President Biden’s first commitment has always been to our country, not himself, I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw. I respectfully call on him to do so.’

Biden campaign spokesperson Michael Tyler said there have been no internal conversations ‘whatsoever’ about Biden stepping aside, though he, too, acknowledged the president had a ‘bad night’ onstage.

Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph, Paul Steinhauser, Kyle Morris, Greg Wehner and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Plans are in the works for President Biden to meet on Wednesday with the nation’s Democrat governors in the wake of Biden’s rough performance during last Thursday’s first debate with former President Trump.

Multiple Democratic sources confirmed that the meeting, which is likely to be virtual, was in the process of being scheduled.

The encounter comes after Democrat governors on Monday huddled on a conference call.

Multiple Democrat sources confirmed to Fox News that Democrat governors yesterday held a call to discuss the latest developments regarding President Biden’s 2024 rematch with Trump.

Biden, who at age 81 is the oldest president in the nation’s history, is facing the roughest stretch of his bid for a second term in the White House. This, after his halting delivery and stumbling answers at the debate, sparked widespread panic in the Democratic Party and spurred calls from political pundits, editorial writers and some party politicians and donors for Biden to step aside as the party’s 2024 standard-bearer.

Monday’s call was organized by Democratic Governors Association (DGA) Chair Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota 

Sources familiar with the call described it as a forum where the governors discussed how to respond to last week’s debate but that there was no serious talk of urging the president to step aside. One source characterized it as a ‘gripe session.’

Sources also told Fox News that the Biden campaign was aware of the call ahead of time.

‘Democratic governors are some of the President and Vice President’s most proactive and vocal supporters because they’ve seen how the Biden-Harris Administration’s accomplishments are directly benefiting their residents. The Biden/Harris team is in constant communication with the governors and their teams, including about yesterday’s meeting,’ a national Democratic official familiar with the call who asked for anonymity to speak more freely told Fox News.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas on Tuesday became the first Democrat House or Senate member or governor to publicly call for Biden to step aside as the party’s standard-bearer.

A number of the governors, including some who’ve been speculated as potential replacements on the extreme long-shot chance that Biden would step away from his re-election bid, have acknowledged the president’s debate performance was shaky but remained committed to supporting the president.

One of those governors, Gavin Newsom of California, told reporters in the spin room after the debate on Thursday night that ‘I will never turn my back on President Biden, and I don’t know a Democrat in my party that would do so. And especially after tonight, we have his back.’

And Newsom, who’s a top Biden campaign surrogate, said ‘none’ when asked if he had any concerns about Biden’s fitness for office: ‘I have no trepidation.’

A new national poll indicates that three-quarters of voters say the Democratic Party would have a better chance of keeping the White House with someone else other than President Biden at the top of the party’s ticket.

And the survey, released Tuesday by CNN, suggests that Vice President Kamala Harris performs slightly better than Biden in a matchup with former President Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee.

The new poll was conducted entirely after Biden’s extremely rough performance during last Thursday’s face-to-face showdown between the two major party contenders.

Biden, who at age 81 is the oldest president in the nation’s history, is facing the roughest stretch of his bid for a second term in the White House. This, after his halting delivery and stumbling answers at the debate, sparked widespread panic in the Democratic Party and spurred calls from political pundits, editorial writers, and some party politicians and donors for Biden to step aside as the party’s 2024 standard-bearer.

According to the poll, 75% of voters and 56% of Democratic-aligned voters say the Democratic Party would have a better shot at keeping control of the presidency if Biden is replaced as the party’s standard-bearer.

By comparison, 60% of voters and 83% of Republican-aligned voters questioned said the GOP has a better chance of winning the presidential election with Trump as the nominee than with someone else.

Trump holds a six-point – 49%-43% – lead over Biden among registered voters nationwide, which is unchanged from CNN’s previous poll in April. And it’s consistent with Trump’s lead in CNN polling dating back to last autumn.

But the vice president trails Trump by just two points – 47%-45% – in a hypothetical matchup, according to the poll.

‘Harris’ slightly stronger showing against Trump rests at least in part on broader support from women (50% of female voters back Harris over Trump vs. 44% for Biden against Trump) and independents (43% Harris vs. 34% Biden),’ the poll notes in a release.

The survey, which was conducted on Friday through Sunday, entirely after last week’s debate, also tested other high-profile Democrats that have been mentioned as possible replacements in the unlikely event that Biden ends his bid for a second term.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom trails Trump 48%-43%, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who ran for the 2020 Democratic nomination, trails Trump 47%-43%, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is down to Trump 47%-42%, according to hypothetical matchups in the survey.

Biden’s campaign has repeatedly insisted that the president has no intention of dropping out of the race.

The poll indicates that Biden’s support among Democratic voters has edged up to 91% from 85% in April. Meanwhile, 93% of Republicans back Trump, about equal to his support in April.

But the survey spotlights that Trump holds a 10-point advantage among independents.

The CNN poll’s release came hours after a USA Today/Suffolk University survey also conducted Friday through Sunday indicated Trump at 41% support and Biden at 38% among registered voters nationwide.

The Democratic incumbent in the White House and his Republican predecessor were tied at 37% in the previous USA Today/Suffolk University poll, which was conducted in May.

While Trump’s advantage in the new survey was within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, there were other warning signs for Biden.

In numbers from the poll released on Monday afternoon, 41% of Democrats questioned said they wanted Biden replaced at the top of the Democratic Party ticket.

Only 14% of Republicans surveyed said they would like to see Trump replaced at the top of the GOP ticket.

‘There’s no question the debate sent out shock waves across the political landscape,’ Suffolk Political Research Center director David Paleologos said. ‘Democrats in the poll are offering tough love to President Biden by saying to him, ‘You’ve served us well, but try to see yourself last Thursday night through our eyes. Hold your head up high, it’s time to go.”

The poll also indicates that Trump now leads Biden 25% to 17% as the second choice for voters currently backing one of the third-party or independent candidates. That is a switch from late last year, when Biden had the edge.

The survey also indicates that Trump supporters – at 59% – are much more excited about their candidate than Biden backers – at 29%. Such a large enthusiasm gap, if it holds, could be consequential when it comes to convincing supporters to actually vote in the autumn election.

A former longtime Democratic lawmaker is once again calling for President Biden to step aside and end his 2024 bid for a second term in the White House. 

‘We have to rip the band aid off! Too much is at stake,’ former Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio emphasized in a social media post on Tuesday.

Pointing to Vice President Kamala Harris, Ryan argued that ‘@VP has significantly grown into her job, she will destroy Trump in debate, highlight choice issue, energize our base, bring back young voters and give us generational change. It’s time!’

in his post, Ryan linked to an opinion piece he wrote in Newsweek which starts with him noting that ‘I ran for President in 2020. I was the first Presidential candidate to endorse Joe Biden in 2020. I love America. I love our Party. I love Joe Biden. The Democratic Nominee in 2024 should be Kamala Harris.’

Biden, who at age 81 is the oldest president in the nation’s history, is facing the roughest stretch of his bid for a second term in the White House. This, after his halting delivery and stumbling answers at last week’s first debate with former President Trump sparked widespread panic in the Democratic Party and spurred calls from political pundits, editorial writers and some party politicians and donors for Biden to step aside as the party’s 2024 standard-bearer.

In his two 2020 Democratic presidential primary debate appearances in the summer of 2019, the then-congressman from Ohio known for his populist outreach to blue-collar workers tangled a couple of times with the then-former Vice President Joe Biden.

However, after dropping out of the nomination race in the autumn of 2019, Ryan endorsed Biden.

Fast-forward to 2022, and as the Democratic Senate nominee in Ohio, a high-profile election showdown with now GOP Sen. JD Vance, Ryan said multiple times that he did not believe Biden should run for re-election in 2024.

‘No, I’ve been very clear. I’d like to see a generational change,’ Ryan said at an October 2022 debate.

Additionally, last November during an interview with CNN, Ryan reiterated that ‘I don’t think the president should run.’

Ryan, who turns 51 later this month, wrote in his opinion piece that Biden pledged during the 2020 campaign ‘to be a bridge President to the next generation. I liked that idea. I envisioned him defeating former President Donald Trump, stabilizing the country, and passing the torch to the next generation.’

‘Regrettably, that bridge collapsed last week. Witnessing Joe Biden struggle was heartbreaking. And we must forge a new path forward,’ Ryan argued.

Fox News reached out to the Biden campaign for reaction to Ryan’s comments but had yet to receive a response at the time this article was posted.

Biden is not the only top Democratic politician Ryan has urged to step aside.

Following the 2016 election, Ryan unsuccessfully challenged then-former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for minority leader. While Pelosi – who would two years later once again win back the Speaker’s gavel – easily dispatched Ryan, his challenge was credited with leading Pelosi to enact changes to House Democrats’ leadership.