A weekend series of editorials in The New York Times comes days after a special counsel’s report cast doubt on the president’s health amid an investigation into his response to President Biden’s age and mental acuity. He offered sometimes scathing assessments of his ability to hold office. of confidential documents.
At least one of multiple columns Often published on the left-leaning editorial page of the Times was suggested Biden may withdraw Times columnist Ross Douthat expressed this harsh view of Biden from his campaign at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. “The impression the president gives in public is not of old age but of extreme frailty, like a light bulb that will burn as long as it is turned on.” Turn on the dimmer. ”
Meanwhile, the New York Times Editorial Board published the following article on Friday: “The challenge of an aging president” He pointed out that Biden’s re-election campaign at his age was taking Americans into “uncharted territory.”
The editorial also criticized Biden’s performance in a last-minute news conference Thursday night, in which he slammed reporters who asked about the special counsel’s report and voters’ concerns about his age. The president then made his third gaffe of the week, confusing Egypt and Mexico.
Mr. Biden’s performance at Thursday night’s press conference was aimed at assuring the public that his memory was fine and arguing that Mr. Xu’s remarks were out of line. Rather, the president’s emotional and agile rebuttals at a time when people were looking for stable, even-handed, and competent answers to fair questions about the president’s health challenged his cognitive abilities. “It raised further questions about sharpness and temperament,” the Times wrote.
“In other words, his assurances didn’t work. He’ll have to try harder — for Mr. Biden, who navigated the campaign with the help of teleprompters and aides, and who, like Donald Trump, will have to try harder.” “The stakes in this presidential election are too high for us to hope to somehow defeat a clearly unfit opponent. We have a real chance to take back the White House,” the editorial continued.
At 81, Biden is the oldest sitting U.S. president and will be 86 at the end of his second term if re-elected in November. Concerns about Biden’s age and ability to perform his duties have been brought back into the spotlight after Special Counsel Robert Hur issued a scathing assessment of Biden’s memory and recollections. his report.
Although the report reveals Mr. Biden’s wrongdoing and does not call for criminal charges in the matter, it is largely overshadowed by Mr. Xu’s image of Mr. Biden, in which he He described Biden as a “sympathetic, well-meaning old man with a poor memory.”
“Joe Biden should not run for re-election,” Douthat wrote in a February 10 op-ed. “The question is not whether Biden should stand down.” It’s a “method”. “That was clear long before the special counsel’s comments about the president’s memory loss sparked age-related anxiety.”
Douthat noted that while “things are going well” for the Biden administration, he doubts whether this kind of political longevity will continue for nearly five more years.
Douthat suggested that Biden’s best approach to seeking re-election before the November election is to end it during the Democratic National Convention in August. He said that to avoid the “dilemma” of supporting Vice President Harris, who is “even more likely” to lose to former President Trump, Biden should decline to endorse him and instead support Vice President Harris. To avoid this, he argued that delegates to the convention should be asked to choose a successor.
Biden fiercely defended his memory and age at a press conference last Thursday, saying his “memory is fine.” Asked if he should run for a second term, Biden said: “I am the best person in this country to be president of the United States and to finish the job I started.”
Trump has a 60-point lead over his Republican primary challenger, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, according to national polling indexes from The Hill and Decision Desk Headquarters. In a hypothetical matchup, Trump and Biden would be neck-and-neck, but recent polls have the former president slightly ahead of the incumbent by 2.2 percentage points.
The paper’s editorial board argues that Biden could more effectively defeat Trump if he campaigned with voters in more “unrehearsed” interactions, such as town hall meetings and more regular press conferences. did.
“However, Mr. Biden’s age and absence from public life have combined to undermine public trust. He appears to be in hiding, or worse, in hiding,” the board wrote. He later added that details in Xu’s report would further heighten those concerns.
Biden advisers say these editorials, which center on the president’s age, have also made significant gaffes in recent months, including confusing Haley with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who is 77 years old. They consider it an unfair media practice compared to Trump. ). Trump’s gaffes were also widely covered in news reports.
Biden advisers also cited a series of testimony about the president’s suitability from various domestic and foreign officials.
In a separate op-ed, columnist Maureen Dowd urged Biden’s team to stop trying to “cover up” Biden’s health and “moments of doubt.” She also criticized Biden’s press conference Thursday, saying, “Anger is never good. Biden should have taken a breather.”
She called Mr. Xu’s report a “fire alarm going off” and said Mr. Biden “rejected it.”[s] To win one term and then step down to make room for new blood. ”
in Another editorial, Columnist Doug Sosnick, who served as a senior adviser to former President Clinton from 1994 to 2000, argued that Mr. Biden is relying on Mr. Trump’s unpopularity and is calling for a rematch between former President Carter and Reagan in 1980. Comparing it to the former president’s campaign, he said that Mr. Reagan had overcome his own doubts about President Trump. As concerns grew about Carter’s second term in office, his age and temperament came into question.
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