NYT editorial board doubles down on Biden dropping out so he can stop ‘embarrassing himself’
The editorial board of the New York Times has issued another opinion piece calling for Democrats to publicly denounce President Biden’s 2024 bid after he failed to ease worries about his mental fitness last week.
The outlet first called on the embattled 81-year-old president to suspend his campaign the day after his disastrous debate against Donald Trump in Atlanta, where he showed signs of confusion and froze up on stage.
The Times has added in a scathing follow-up that since the June 27 debate, Biden has “offered little comfort” to Democrats who want him to abandon his likely party nomination and step aside for another candidate.
Biden “has maintained a scripted and controlled schedule of public appearances. He has largely avoided taking questions from voters or journalists — the kinds of interactions that reveal his limitations and caused him so much trouble on the debate stage,” the Times’ editorial board wrote.
“And when he has cast aside his teleprompter, most notably during a 22-minute interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Friday, he has continued to appear as a man in decline.”
The concern about his mental acuity is so great that Democrats “from the grass roots to the highest levels of the party” need to “speak plainly” to Biden and tell he’s “embarrassing himself and endangering his legacy,” the Times said.
“He needs to hear, plain and clear, that he is no longer an effective spokesman for his own priorities.
“President Biden clearly understands the stakes. But he seems to have lost track of his own role in this national drama. As the situation has become more dire, he has come to regard himself as indispensable,” the editorial board said.
“He does not seem to understand that he is now the problem — and that the best hope for Democrats to retain the White House is for him to step aside.”
Several congressional Democrats have expressed public concern about Biden in the last week and called for him to step aside.
But the Times said the number of Democrats willing to speak publicly is just not enough and that the “whisper campaign” of Democrats patiently waiting for Biden to come to the decision on his own is “inadequate” for this “urgent” moment.
The president has been protected by his aides for years with the frequent use of teleprompters, pre-screened questions, infrequent spontaneous press conferences and hand-picked journalists. Biden’s “off the cuff” statements are usually in response to brief, shouted questions.
The editorial board argued the octogenarian is trying to “defy reality” by not seriously acknowledging the constant surveys showing a majority of Americans have concerns about his health and mental state.
By ignoring the polling numbers, Biden is putting “the country at significant risk by continuing to insist that he is the best Democrat to defeat Mr. Trump,” the Times wrote.
What to know about the calls for President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race:
- President Biden’s poor performance in the first 2024 presidential debate left some Democrats unsure of his fitness for office and future as the party’s candidate.
- More than a dozen congressional Democrats have joined in calling for Biden’s exit from the race. Former Biden supporter George Clooney echoed these calls in an op-ed published in the New York Times just weeks after he helped lead a record-breaking fundraiser for the Democrat.
- Democratic voters have continued to raise concerns about Biden’s nomination since the debate, with speculations and suggestions for replacement nominees running rampant.
- Biden’s former running mate Barack Obama has reportedly been trying to pressure him to drop out, and had prior knowledge of Clooney’s op-ed. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi allegedly told Biden he could not beat former President Donald Trump this time around.
- As the Democratic National Convention approaches, California delegates for the Democratic Party are reportedly in disarray as debate over the president’s chances of re-election threatens to tear the party apart.
- However, the Biden campaign has denied any plans for Biden to bow out and for Kamala Harris to step in as the Democratic nominee. Sources close to the president believe he might not be willing to drop out, while other sources claim he is “receptive” to giving up on a second term.
The board criticized Biden for his Monday letter to congressional Democrats insisting that he will not drop out. The Times noted that he did not once mention the concerns about his mental acuity or the debate.
Refusing to acknowledge other possibilities for a candidate “is dismissing the potential candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris or any other younger, more vigorous Democrat, and in effect asking the American people to trust him instead of their own lying eyes,” the piece went on.
Biden dropping out before the Democrats officially select him as the nominee would ease the process for the party in selecting his replacement.
The Times said Biden’s argument that he was chosen electorally through prior state primaries doesn’t hold water because the system was set up as a “coronation” at the time.
Biden’s insistence that voters look to his record, not his age, is an argument, the Times wrote. But there is no guarantee his record will continue, and now, not dropping out could ensure Trump gets another term.
