“Joe Biden is not going to take himself out of this race, nor should he,” says the Jamaican-American Democratic Governor of Maryland Mr Wes Moore, whose name was among those called as possible replacements for the aging president.

Mr Moore is one of the stalwarts who are still backing President Biden after his disastrous performance in last Thursday’s presidential debate with the Republican presumptive nominee Mr Donald Trump.

Many are finding it hard to shake off stark television scenes of the oldest president in US history with blank stares, mouth open and struggling to finish his sentences.

Even some staunch Democrats are questioning whether he is too physically and cognitively diminished to serve another four years.

It is not yet clear if Mr Moore, like his California counterpart Mr Gavin Newsome, whose name was also floated, was just being strategic, but it appears that Mr Biden’s biggest backers are standing by him in his gravest hour.

Dogged by concerns that he was too old from his 2020 campaign which propelled him to the presidency over Mr Trump, Mr Biden needed to put on a strong showing in the debate on news network CNN to settle doubts that he might not be able to make it through another four years.

Instead, he appeared on stage as if in a trance, leading to speculation that he was over-medicated for a cold.

Mr Biden had no response to Mr Trump’s barrage of lies estimated at 30, and could barely rebut the Republican on issues regarded as his strong points — like abortion and the economy.

Left with little to work with, the president is barely hanging on, propped up by party faithfuls such as former President Barack Obama, whom he served as vice-president; former President Bill Clinton; and South Carolina Representative James Clyburn, whose support all but won him the 2020 presidency.

CNN quoted former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as advising: “Let us not make a judgement about a presidency on one debate. Let’s talk about what it means to people in their lives… the difference between Joe Biden and the former president is so clear.”

Without doubt, if Mr Biden had to be pulled so late in the political season it would upend the Democratic campaign, especially if there is a messy food fight among candidates throwing their hats in the ring.

In 2020, he had to fight off some 31 primary candidates to secure the job.

For sure, his situation is not helped by the fact that some former media allies, like the influential New York Times newspaper, have called for his withdrawal from the campaign, citing his alleged cognitive decline.

Still he has not lost all, because the respected Philadelphia Inquirer has argued that it was Mr Trump who should withdraw, based on his litany of lies and failure to articulate a cogent policy platform.

Ironically, the age of both candidates is a central issue in the campaign. Mr Biden would be 86 at the end of another four-year term, and Mr Trump would start the 2025 term as the oldest to do so, at 79.

Last evening, perhaps out of desperation, the president turned his attention to Monday’s ruling by the Conservative-dominated Supreme Court, which helped Mr Trump by finding that he has some immunity from prosecution for acts while in office.

This is a likely indication that Mr Biden has found an issue he believes he can use to distract from his present predicament.