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Major donors to the US Democratic Party are discussing ways how President Joe Biden could drop out of the 2024 race without hurting the party's chances of beating Donald Trump in November, the New York Times reported on Monday. Democrats and their supporters have been increasingly doubting Biden's electability after his disastrous performance during the televised debate with Trump last month.

Multiple reports said that Democrats and some of Biden's own aides were "shocked" by the 81-year-old's behavior on stage and have big concerns over his mental and physical fitness to serve as president for a second term.

"Some donors have discussed 'elegant' ways for Biden to step aside to preserve his reputation," while others "believe that dropping out sooner is better," the NYT's DealBook newsletter said.

Some executives told DealBook that it would be "a mistake" for Biden to quit the race without becoming the nominee first. They argued that doing so would "rob him of the power to anoint his replacement."

Democrats will meet in Chicago in late August to officially name their candidate for the 2024 election. According to the report, an open convention where delegates are not bound to any particular candidate could create an "intraparty strife that helped Donald Trump win."

DealBook cited its sources as saying that prominent financiers and investors, including Larry Fink of BlackRock, Jon Gray of Blackstone, and Peter Orszag of Lazard, and Robert Wolf, a former US executive "close to Barack Obama," are discussing whether to "stick with Biden."

The 46th president, however, refused to quit the race, albeit admitting that he does not debate "as well as [he] used to." Speaking to MSNBC on Monday, Biden said that he is "not going anywhere," describing himself as "the best candidate to beat Donald Trump."