Rep. James Clyburn: Biden must ’stay the course’ despite ‘poor performance’ at debate

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Rep. James Clyburn says Biden must 'stay the course' after debate

Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., says President Biden had a "poor performance" at last night's debate.

Influential South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn told reporters Friday that he intends to tell President Biden to "stay the course" despite his "poor performance" in the debate last night against former President Trump. 

Clyburn, whose nomination helped pave the way for Biden to secure the nomination in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, told Fox News Senior Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram that "anytime you see a performance that gets the kind of reviews that that performance got, that would be cause for concern. 

"And there may be a lot of reasons for it," Clyburn continued. "And we'll find out what the reasons are, but you know he's in Raleigh, North Carolina today. I'll be interested in seeing how things go today." 

Clyburn likened Biden’s debate performance to "strike one" in a game of baseball. 

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Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said Friday that despite President Biden's "poor performance" at last night's debate, he intends to tell him to "stay the course" when it comes to the presidential election. (Fox News)

"If this were a ballgame, he's got two more swings," he said. 

Clyburn stated that he thinks there is "no better Democrat" than Biden to communicate the party’s platform. 

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President Biden's debate performance last night has been widely panned by critics on both sides of the aisle. (Kevin D. Liles for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Clyburn also said he plans to meet with Biden later Friday, where he will tell him to "stay the course." 

"I'm gonna say it the last time -- it was a poor performance," Clyburn told reporters on Capitol Hill. 

President Biden and former President Trump debated on Thursday night.  (Getty Images)

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But he added that Democrats calling for Biden to drop out of the race following last night’s debate performance should "stay the course" and "chill out." 

Fox News' Alexandra Rego and Tyler Olson contributed to this report.