Watch: Jill Biden congratulates husband Joe for ‘answering every question’ after panned debate

Jill Biden praised President Joe Biden for “answering every question” in Thursday’s presidential debate despite his performance being widely described as a “disaster” for the Democrats.

Before addressing the crowd directly, the First Lady helped Mr Biden on stage at a “Let’s Go Joe” event in Atlanta.

“Joe, you did such a good job. You answered every question, you knew all the facts. Let me ask the crowd - what did Trump do? Lie,” Mrs Biden said.

The audience, who had watched Mr Biden’s performance, cheered loudly and chanted that Donald Trump was a “liar”.

It came after Mr Biden made a post-debate trip to Waffle House, where he said: “I think it went well.”

He told reporters he had a “sore throat” and, when pressed about Democratic concerns that he should consider stepping aside, Mr Biden said: “No, it’s hard to debate a liar.”

The president and Mrs Biden’s confidence directly conflicts with much of the public reaction to the debate.

Even Kamala Harris, the vice president, conceded that Mr Biden’s performance had a “slow start”.

“There was a slow start, but there was a strong finish,” she said.