Former Vice President Joe Biden is not a "master debater," especially when faced with talents such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), according to Washington Post congressional reporter Karoun Demirjian.
Demirjian noted during a panel on CNN's Inside Politics that Warren's rise in the polls over the past few months have likely been a reflection of her performances at the two Democratic primary debates. That success, Demirjian said, is shifting public opinion away from Biden and toward Warren.
"She's gotten a rise out of that whereas Biden is not the master debater people were hoping him to be," Demirjian said. "I think people were picturing him on a stage against Trump."
Although still the Democratic front runner, Biden's campaign has not inspired confidence in many Democrats after a lackluster performance at the first debate, following an attack from Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) on his civil rights record.
"Certainly after the first debate where he looked shaky under that assault from Kamala Harris," MSNBC senior politics editor Beth Fouhy said after the second debate. "But even after this next one where he did look better prepared than the first debate, but he was halting, he seemed to forget words in the middle of his sentences."
Biden has also faced increased scrutiny after committing a series of gaffes this weekend at the Iowa State Fair. In the one instance, Biden referred to former British prime minister Teresa May as Margaret Thatcher, who has not filled the office since 1990. In another, Biden told a room full of Hispanics and Asians that "poor kids are just as bright, just as talented, as white kids."
Biden also claimed that he was vice president during the mass shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida. The shooting occurred in 2018. Biden may have been referring to a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newton, Connecticut, which occurred in 2012.