The Democratic Party has been gripped by a growing sense of panic in the aftermath of President Biden’s catastrophic debate performance against former President Donald Trump last week. Many elected officials are worried that Biden’s presence on a Democratic ticket could sink vulnerable lawmakers in the House and Senate to lose their races, prompting many to push for his replacement.

A number of House Democrats, as well as a handful of governors and senators, have called on President Biden to step down in recent days. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) is attempting to gather a coalition of Democrat senators aimed at calling on the president to not seek re-election, while five House Democrats have already called for his removal from the ticket.

Others have provided tentative critiques of the president without explicitly calling on him to step down.

“There are concerns with the impact on down-ballot races if the President doesn’t do well,” U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) told “Meet The Press” on Sunday. Schiff is currently locked in a U.S. Senate race with former baseball star Steve Garvey.

“At present, our down-ballot candidates in the Senate and House are doing well,” Schiff continued, pointing to polls showing Democrats outperforming Biden in a number of key Senate races.  “They are running well ahead of the President, but you can only run so far ahead of the President.”

The Russian collusion hoax architect did concede that voters are concerned about President Biden’s age and fitness.

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A number of other House Democrats have provided blunt criticism of President Biden on the condition of anonymity.

“The sh*t is going to hit the fan on Monday, when Congress returns,” one Democrat lawmaker told Axios.

President Biden’s interview with ABC News — which was supposed to assuage the fears of Democrats by showing that Biden is competent — does not appear to have helped the campaign achieve its objectives. Panicked elected Democrats told Axios that there is “nothing” Biden can do to reverse the damage.

“Every single person not named Biden,” or members of the president’s staff, understand that Biden’s sinking poll numbers could sink the party as a whole, one top Democrat strategist told the outlet.

David Axelrod, a former top advisor to President Barack Obama, called on Biden to step down in a scathing opinion piece on Sunday. “Denial. Delusion. Defiance,” Axelrod said of the president.

The state of efforts to replace Biden could be made apparent by Sunday afternoon, when House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) will be holding a meeting with ranking members of congressional committees.

Top Democrats are hoping that President Biden will make a move by Friday if he does indeed exit the race. This, Democrats hope, would give them time to plot a strategy to defeat Trump with a new candidate.

Efforts to replace Biden will face a number of hurdles, however. Unless the party opts to go with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Biden Campaign’s war chest will not be eligible for transfer to a new candidate due to campaign finance laws. Polling has also found that Harris, along with other potential replacement candidates, would also lose to Trump in November.

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