Former Democratic lawmaker says party has 'serious questions' about Biden as the 2024 candidate following his 'tough night': 'The president has lost his fastball' and there will be a reckoning

• Ex-Democratic Rep. Harold Ford Jr. said Friday that the party was going to have ‘serious questions going forward’ about President Joe Biden being the nominee
• Ford said Biden had a ‘tough night’ after the release of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s classified documents report and the president’s subsequent ‘Mexico’ gaffe 
• ‘This last night will be the closing ad in a campaign against President as we get to November,’ Ford said  

Former Democratic Rep. Harold Ford Jr. said Friday that the party was going to have ‘serious questions going forward’ about President Joe Biden’s ability to be the 2024 presidential nominee after a ‘tough night.’

On Thursday, Biden’s reelection prospects were rattled by the release of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s classified documents report, which referenced the president’s ‘diminished faculties’ and said a jury would find him ‘a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.’

The 81-year-old president poured salt on the wound during a press conference addressing the report, saying the president of Egypt was from ‘Mexico.’

‘The president lost his fastball,’ Ford said. President Biden last night, I think even in that interview, even in that press conference there, demonstrated to a lot of Americans what Mr. Hur wrote.’

Ford suggested it could do a lot to hurt Biden politically.

‘This last night will be the closing ad in a campaign against President as we get to November,’ Ford said on Fox & Friends. ‘The question is, are Democrats willing to go forward between now and November with a candidate that many in the country may not think is up to the job for four more years.’

Former Democratic Rep. Harold Ford Jr. said Friday that the party was going to have ‘serious questions going forward’ about President Joe Biden ‘s ability to be the 2024 presidential nominee after a ‘tough night’

Ford indicated to Fox & Friends’ Brian Kilmeade that he believed Thursday possibly changed the trajectory of the 2024 race.

‘I’ll answer it this way, if you asked me this question two or three days ago, the answer was it’s very unlikely that any other person could be the nominee,’ Ford said. ‘I think after last night, I think that question becomes one that has to be answered more forthrightly and more thoughtfully.’

‘And as of right now, I think Democrats are going to have to grapple with this over the next several weeks and few months,’ he continued.

‘And there are few elders in the party that can, perhaps, have this conversation and we will see if they do,’ the ex-lawmaker and Fox News contributor added.

With self-help guru Marianne Williamson out of the race, only one Democrat, Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, has been challenging Biden for the Democratic nomination.

Phillips’ support, thus far, has topped at just 19 percent and in New Hampshire, a state where the president didn’t appear on the ballot due to the Democrats reordering their presidential primaries.

Phillips launched his campaign in October over concerns about Biden’s advanced age.

President Joe Biden addressed the press Thursday night after the release of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s blockbuster classified documents report, which questioned if the president was suffering from memory lapses

The 55-year-old congressman had tried to months to recruit a more well-known name to primary Biden, but the effort failed, compelling Phillips to do it himself.

He pointed to polling that showed Americans were wary of awarding the incumbent four more years and surveys that showed Biden losing to former President Donald Trump.

Phillips said on Thursday that the special counsel’s report ‘all but handed’ the election to Trump.

‘The report simply affirms what most Americans already know, that the president cannot continue to serve as our Commander-in-Chief beyond his term ending January 20, 2025,’ Phillips said in a statement to DailyMail.com.

Allies of the president have tried a variety of defenses in the last 24 hours, with some pointing to the fact that Hur was Trump-appointed, to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pointing out Friday that Biden has gaffed names his entire career.

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