‘Never Seen Anything Like It’: Presidential Historian Calls on Biden to Immediately Resign Amid Exodus of Dem Support

CNN’s Jim Acosta pursued the nearly impossible task of putting an unprecedented political situation into context, so he brought on someone who knows a lot about presidential history — presidential historian Douglas Brinkley.

Calls for President Joe Biden to step down from his reelection campaign have only increased since his catastrophic performance at the presidential debate. But Biden has been steadfast in remaining in office and the race, and he continued to perform his presidential duties at the NATO summit in Washington, DC, this week. On Thursday, he will go off-script for his first press conference since November 2023, amid bleeding support from his political allies.

Acosta asked Brinkley first about what could be going on behind the scenes and brought up Biden’s decision not to run for president in 2016 after the death of his son Beau Biden:

Acosta: Doug, I was there in the White House Rose Garden when Biden later announced he would not be running. But, you know, as you remember, Doug, during that time period, Biden was at times sounding very much publicly like somebody who was going to be a candidate. And then he bowed out. And I’m just thinking about this because of what [Speaker Emerita] Nancy Pelosi was saying yesterday, that there are still some Democrats encouraging him to make a decision. Is it possible that privately, behind the scenes, perhaps the president is not so sure he’s going to run, and we might see him make an announcement that he’s going to bow out? What do you think about all of that?

Brinkley: I think that’s probably the case. I mean, unless he’s completely insular and oblivious to American political culture, their drumbeat is for him to leave. I mean, I’ve never seen anything like it. A sitting president that was in good stead, a 90-minute, horrific debate, and now at least 50 percent of the Democratic Party — I say more than that, probably closer to 65 percent — are saying, “please go, go, go.” And like an old Herman Melville story, Biden is saying, “I prefer not to. I prefer not to leave.” And he keeps digging in. But I think he’ll have to probably go in the end.

Then Brinkley made his call on what Biden should do ahead of the election:

Acosta: Folks are saying, well, if Biden jumps out, it’s like 1968 all over again, and it’s going to be a big mess for the party. Does that necessarily have to be the case? I mean, that was a long time ago.

Brinkley: Jim, there’s no history repeating itself like that ’68 [convention]. If Biden tomorrow said, “I’m stepping down and [Vice President] Kamala Harris is president, I’m going back to Delaware and I’ll be giving her my advice. I’m the highest thing there is in the land, a private citizen,” that’s the kind of thing Jefferson would say. That’s the kind of thing Theodore Roosevelt would say, he would look good, Biden. And he would have put the first woman president of the U.S. in, and then Chicago would be about who’s running with Kamala Harris. And Kamala Harris is the easiest person to inherit those delegates and to assume the donor money.

Acosta: Is that what you think you should do?

Brinkley: He can go out on a–

Acosta: I don’t mean to interrupt, Doug…

Brinkley: I think he should.

Acosta: You think he should step down?

Brinkley: Yes, I do, because you’re… How do you win when your entire party is pleading with you to step aside? Yes. There are groups particularly, you know, a certain, you know, [Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)] I know is sticking by him and some labor people are, but it’s dividing the Democratic Party to split and get like a coconut in half. How do you go in to Chicago that divided? And it’s already going to be hurlyburly in Chicago because the anti-Gaza-Israel protests will be back. He needs to streamline the party, and by writing the letter that “I’m stepping back due to health” and, you know… Do a cognitive test first. And if you do the cognitive test, if you pass, it may be different. But if you have trouble with it in any way, say, “My time’s up. I’ve served my country. But here you have an incredible person in Kamala Harris. America at long last, the land of liberty and democracy and equal rights. We finally have a woman president and she comes to you.”

Watch the video above via CNN.

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