US President Joe Biden's shaky performance against Republican rival Donald Trump on Thursday (June 27) rattled Democrats and prompted some strategists to ask whether their party should take the unprecedented step of replacing him as their candidate.

Biden supporters had hoped Thursday night's debate would dispel worries that the 81-year-old was too old for another term, but the 90-minute clash appeared to do the opposite.

Biden and Trump, 78, both have faced concerns about their age and fitness in the run-up to the Nov 5 election, but they have weighed more heavily on Biden. Now, with less than five months before the US goes to the polls, some Democratic strategists and fundraisers are privately asking whether the president must be replaced at the top of the party ticket.

His voice hoarse from what White House officials told reporters was a cold, Biden hurried through some of his talking points on the debate stage, stumbled over some answers and trailed off during others.

About halfway through the debate, a Democratic strategist who worked on Biden's 2020 campaign called it a "disaster."

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