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A growing number of editorial boards for major newspapers have called on Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 election in the wake of his disastrous performance at the first debate against Donald Trump.
The day after the debate, The New York Times’ editorial board suggested that the president should leave the race “to serve his country,” based on his own argument that Trump presents a serious threat to American democracy.
“At Thursday’s debate, the president needed to convince the American public that he was equal to the formidable demands of the office he is seeking to hold for another term,” the board wrote. “Voters, however, cannot be expected to ignore what was instead plain to see: Mr Biden is not the man he was four years ago.”
Writing for The New Yorker, editor David Remnick wrote that Biden would be performing an “act of patriotism” by leaving the race, while remaining would be “an act not only of self-delusion but of national endangerment.”
He added: “There is no shame in growing old. There is honor in recognizing the hard demands of the moment.”
The Economist’s editorial board wrote that Biden leaving the race would “help rescue America from an emergency.”
The board, which suggested in 2022 that Biden should not run for a second term, wrote that Biden is now “befuddled and incoherent – too infirm, frankly, to cope with another four years in the world’s hardest job.”
The Chicago Tribune’s editorial board wrote “enough.”
Both candidates are “two gnarly old men” and “clowns,” while the Democratic Party has been covering up a reality that they must have seen but clearly wished were otherwise, the board wrote.
The president should announce that he is a single-term president who has “seen the light when it comes to his own capabilities in the face of the singular demands of being the president of the United States,” the board continued.
“He can do so with honor, but he is the only person who can do so. Certainly, his family can help. But, again, he is the only one.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote that it is “time for Biden to pass the torch.”
The Georgia newspaper’s editorial board invoked George Washington’s farewell address, noting that “every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome.”
“The shade of retirement is now necessary for President Biden,” the board said.
The debate – and the “insulting” excuse that Biden merely had a cold – confirmed “the worst fears of some of Biden’s most ardent supporters – that after 36 years in the US Senate, eight more as vice president and a term in the White House, age has finally caught up to him,” according to the Georgia newspaper’s board.
“Biden’s candidacy was grounded in his incumbency and the belief of Democratic leaders and pollsters that he stood the best chance of defeating Trump in November,” it continued. “That is no longer the case.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s editorial board took a different approach by urging Trump to drop out of the race.
Lost in the “hand wringing” over Biden’s performance “was Donald Trump’s usual bombastic litany of lies, hyperbole, bigotry, ignorance, and fear mongering. His performance demonstrated once again that he is a danger to democracy and unfit for office,” the board wrote.
Trump – an “unserious carnival barker” who is a “danger to democracy” – reminded voters of “what another four years of Trump would look like,” according to the newspaper. “More lies, grievance, narcissism, and hate. Supporters say they like Trump because he says whatever he thinks. But he mainly spews raw sewage.”
Biden, on the other hand, “must show that he is up to the job,” the board wrote.
“This much is clear: He has a substantive record of real accomplishments, fighting the pandemic, combating climate change, investing in infrastructure, and supporting working families and the most vulnerable,” the newspaper added. “There was only one person at the debate who does not deserve to be running for president. The sooner Trump exits the stage, the better off the country will be.”
