Democrats fear White House delusion has set in about Biden debate performance

WASHINGTON — Democrats continued to panic Friday after President Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump — saying privately that they fear the president’s inner circle is suffering from the “delusion” that the 81-year-old bested his Republican rival Thursday night.On the record, party members scrambled to vouch for Biden in a bid to stanch calls for him to step aside and for the party to find a replacement candidate barely four months out from the general election.Others spoke more candidly when granted anonymity.“The level of delusion is wild,” one Democratic insider told The Post.“I don’t know the team around him is seeing what everyone else saw.

And they need to focus on getting back on track.”That source added that they believe that Biden himself knows he badly misstepped during the debate, regardless of what aides — and congressional allies — say publicly.“He is not dumb,” this person insisted of the president.“He is staying in, [but] he needs to roll up his sleeves and get to work and own it wasn’t a good night.”A second Democratic source, who described the debate as “abysmal” for Biden, said they doubted the president could recover and that Democrats must urgently consider a new candidate or risk handing the election to Trump, 78.“They f—ing should,” he exclaimed, with betting markets listing California Gov.

Gavin Newsom, former first lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris as the top favorites to raise the Democratic standard.But a third source said it would be extremely difficult to replace Biden and that the president likely would need to be coaxed to step aside — likely following candid discussions involving senior party leaders in Congress, such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), likely in conjunction with first lady Jill Biden.The Democratic National Committee currently is set to vote electronically sometime bef...