Joe Biden's old boss, former President Barack Obama - still one of the most popular figures in the Democratic Party - has weighed in on his friend's Thursday performance.

"Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know," Obama wrote in a statement, appearing to reference his own tough debate outing against Republican Mitt Romney in 2012. The then-president, often praised for his public speaking chops and charisma, was roundly criticised for appearing checked-out and uninterested.

Obama went on to beat Romney in November.

In his statement Friday, Obama said, "This election is still a choice... between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight - and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit. Last night didn’t change that."

Was an energetic Biden speech today enough to overcome debate damage?published at 19:48 28 June

19:48 28 June

Nomia Iqbal
Reporting from Raleigh, North Carolina

You’d be forgiven for asking, was that a different man?

President Biden’s performance today was a glaring contrast to last night. But perhaps that was intended after waking up to a torrent of dreadful headlines suggesting it was over for him.

There is no doubt the friendly and cheering audience helped power him. He also spoke from a teleprompter.

Biden was beaming and confidently addressed his debate failure directly by saying he wasn’t a young man: “I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to, I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong.”

He was simply everything critics said he wasn’t last night.

Sharp, energetic, peppy, passionate, cracking jokes and very clear on what he thinks is the threat from Trump.

For many supporters, today was “Joe being Joe”.

Corey Branch, a Raleigh City council member, said: “Our President has a lot of info in his head. When you know so much and you’re so prepared, it’s hard to fit in a short time frame. He was more loose here. We have a few months to go.”

The big question is will this quell the fears in his own party that he isn’t fit and that decline will only continue.

Many will say Biden gave a great post-game analysis after a terrible loss, and it was a good recovery. But for others, the damage is done.

The numbers are in for CNN's first presidential debate of 2024 between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

The debate averaged 47.9 million viewers in the US, according to preliminary data from Nielsen. It was produced by CNN but aired across multiple networks.

When Trump and Biden squared off for their first debate in 2020, the average audience was 73.13 million.

We spoke to some of President Biden’s supporters as they were heading out after the rally here in Raleigh.

They looked relieved and said they were happy with how he performed.

Monique Holsey Hyman says she is really excited for a second Biden presidency.

"Today he was on fire, I think he got some rest since yesterday,” she said laughing.

Audrey Lawrence was almost in tears.

“He found his words and articulated how we all feel.”

Even before last night’s debate, many Democrats were dissatisfied with Biden as the party’s pick for president.

A Gallup poll, external this month found just 42% of Democrats were pleased with Biden as the nominee.

That was down from 56% four years ago – and far lower than the support received by previous candidates such as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Over the last four years, Biden’s favourability has dropped, and Donald Trump’s has improved.

“With my life and soul I can do this job, the stakes are too high” - and with that sentence you have it.

The crowds shout “Yes you can Joe!”

President Biden is not going anywhere. Democrats here say it’s only June, a long way to go until the election in November. They believe the debate fiasco will be long forgotten.

Biden has finished speaking and stepped away from the podium after addressing supporters in North Carolina, pushing back at concerns over his performance at last night's debate.

He and First Lady Jill Biden are waving to the crowd as Tom Petty's song "I Won't Back Down" plays.

Biden has delivered what may turn out to be the most memorable moment of this speech, addressing the concerns about whether his age has made him too old for another term head on.

"I know I'm not a young man - to state the obvious," he says, before being interrupted by enthusiastic chants of "Joe Joe Joe" from the crowd.

"I don't walk as easy as I used to. I don't speak as easy as I used to, I don't debate as well as I used to but I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong, I know how to do this job," he says. "I know what millions of Americans know: when you get knocked down, you get back up."

"I would not be running again if I did not believe with all my heart and soul I can do this job," he adds.

Biden and Trump also got in a tangle in last night's debate over Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling which protected the right to abortion but was overturned in 2022.

Biden again repeats last night's claim that Trump "thinks overturning Roe v Wade was a beautiful thing, I think it was a nightmare".

He then promises to make Roe v. Wade "the law of the land again" if he and Vice President Kamala Harris are elected with a Democratic Congress.

Shouts of "Lock him up" broke out earlier while North Carolina governor Roy Cooper whipped up the crowd ahead of Biden's speech. Now they have resurfaced while Biden is speaking.

The chant - an echo of the cries of "Lock her up" that dominated Trump campaign rallies in 2016 - is a shocking reminder of how polarised and dark American politics has become.

Biden responds to the cries by appearing to try to calm the crowd. "There'll be time for that," he says.

Image source, Getty Images

Biden then refers to one of the key sparring moments in the debate where he called Trump "a sucker and a loser".

Biden says Trump "lied about how great he was for veterans", and repeats that claim once more for the crowd.

"My son was one of those people," he says, referring to his late son Beau, who served in Iraq and died from cancer.

In his speech, Biden acknowledges last night's debate - without conceding any of the weak reviews his performance received.

"I don't know what you did last night, but I spent 90 minutes on the stage debating a guy who has the morals of an alley cat," he says, repeating one of the lines he deployed against Trump last night.

He says Trump lied repeatedly on the stage.

Biden claims that "America itself is at stake", warning that the US "bows to no one ever - unlike the other guy, we'll stand up to dictators," he says, referring to his Republican opponent Donald Trump.

"More than anything, we're going to preserve, protect, defend our democracy. That's what at stake in this election," he says.

Joe Biden has started speaking. As he thanks the speakers before him, he asks the crowd behind him to excuse his back.

"It's good knowing you have my back," he quips.

His early remarks are almost being overwhelmed by chants of "four more years".

He is speaking forcefully, the raspiness in his voice that sparked such alarm also appears to be gone from his voice, though he has coughed several times.

Jill Biden then introduces Eric Fitz, a public school principal and educator who told the crowd he was proud watching the debate, adding that the president was “a good and decent man who fights for our families every day”.

Biden's stumbling performance at last night's debate has been weighing on voter's minds, and he's expected to address that in this speech.

Watch live at the top of this page.

Jill Biden, wearing a blue dress covered with the word VOTE, takes the stage to introduce her husband, who stands behind her.

She addresses the debate, saying that what people saw last night was “Joe Biden: a president with integrity and character who told the truth” while Donald Trump told "lie after lie".

She is greeted by rapturous applause. “I love that dress”, someone shouts from the crowd.

President Biden has just walked onto stage with the First Lady. He attempted a light jog undoubtedly as a way to prove to his detractors he has energy. If the torrent of negative headlines has bothered him, there’s no sign of that.

He is beaming at the crowd.

He is a late arrival but the crowd of about three hundred greet him rapturously.

For supporters here, the debate performance was a blip that many say was made harder by his opponent “who lied and lied.”

Elsewhere there are loud calls for him to stand down. But inside this auditorium, there are nothing but enthusiastic shouts of “Let’s go Joe! And Four More Years!”

You can watch Biden speak by pressing the "watch live" button at the top of this page.

Here's a look inside the auditorium as supporters eagerly await the president's arrival:

Joe Biden is due to speak any moment at his campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina.

This is an unusually high-stakes moment, after last night’s poorly received debate performance.

Will the president address the concerns that he flopped?

In this more scripted environment, among his supporters, will he be able to put on a show that can assuage the fears that he is too old to serve another term?

The event is being held in North Carolina, a southern state that voted for Trump in 2020.

But Democrats have steered millions in campaign spending toward the state, hoping it will be in play.

The state has enacted strict bans on abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. It has also seen an influx of new people since 2020 from states such as Florida, Virginia and New York.

You can watch Biden speak by hitting the 'Watch live' button at the top of this page.