New York Times columnist Ezra Klein on Sunday criticized California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) and the Democratic Party’s mainstream wing for ignoring growing concerns about President Biden’s re-election feasibility.
After a lackluster performance in last week’s presidential debate, Newsom, as the top press office deputy, downplayed the idea that Biden should step aside, even as Biden’s name had emerged as a possible successor to the 2024 presidential nominee.
“We have to defend this president,” Newsom said. “We can’t turn our backs on him after one performance. What kind of party has that?”
Klein to Governor Latest Column.
“Perhaps the party that wants to win,” he wrote, “or the party that wants to nominate the candidate the American people believe is right for the job? Perhaps the better question is: What kind of party would do nothing right now?”
Biden’s performance in the first debate raised alarm among some Democrats and allies, with the president at times struggling to gather his thoughts and often appearing dazed.
A growing number of Democrats and unnamed lawmakers have called on Biden to allow another candidate to win the party’s nomination, but no lawmaker has publicly said they want to remove Biden from the running.
“Democrats are not lacking in talent or ability, but they are lacking in coherence and confidence,” Klein wrote. “What is this party for? Newsom’s comments Thursday suggest that this party’s function is to support Biden.”
Klein was one of the first major media figures to argue that Biden should not seek reelection.
He argued that the party establishment bears as much responsibility as anyone else for the shaky state of his campaign, not just Biden himself.
“I have chosen to support Biden’s reelection, despite poll after poll showing that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe Biden is too old to serve a second term,” he wrote on Sunday.
“It was an understandable choice for no major Democrat to challenge Biden in the primary, even though polls show a majority of Democrats do not want him to run again,” he continued. “If Democratic Party officials and the White House believed that Harris was too weak to run or govern in Biden’s place, they could have chosen to do nothing.”
“But far from being a check on Biden’s decisions and ambitions, Democrats have become their enablers and enforcers,” Klein wrote. “They are giving Americans a choice they don’t want, and threatening the end of democracy if they don’t choose it. Democrats like to say democracy is what they’re voting for, but it’s not. It’s Biden.”
Despite the bleak outlook and polling numbers showing concern about how voters responded to the debates, Klein said he remains optimistic about the upcoming Democratic National Convention.
“Nothing is without risk now,” he continued. “An open convention is a risk. Nominating Harris is a risk. Nominating an 81-year-old who has a 38 percent approval rating and just lost badly in the first debate is a risk.”
