The National Review editorial board called for Biden’s resignation in a scathing editorial on Sunday after he announced his resignation. He didn’t ask He was re-elected in November.
“Biden should take the next logical step and resign from office.” The editorial board wrote“It is possible to imagine circumstances in which a president could not campaign but still perform official duties — for example, if he had a severe physical disability. It is also possible to imagine a situation in which a president could serve another six months but not another four and a half years. But these scenarios do not apply to Biden.”
Biden withdraws from 2024 rematch with Trump, ends bid for second term in White House
Biden announced he would not seek reelection and endorsed Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate. (Associated Press)
The 81-year-old president has come under increasing pressure to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race following his disastrous defeat in a debate with former President Donald Trump last month. His weak performance has raised concerns about whether he is mentally and physically stable enough to campaign and serve another four years in office.
Biden finally caved to the pressure on Sunday, writing in an open letter that “serving as President has been the greatest honor of my life. Though I intended to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and our country to step aside for the remainder of my term and focus solely on fulfilling the duties of my presidency.”
A group of senior editors at National Review praised Biden, saying he was “right to end the travesty of asking the American people to believe he was capable of serving another four years as president.”
“This is an outrageous story and, as public opinion polls have consistently shown for years, the public did not believe it,” they wrote.
With Biden’s campaign halted, what’s next for Democrats?
President Joe Biden has suspended his campaign and is facing calls for him to resign immediately. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
“While Biden is clearly confused in public, we are receiving disturbing reports that he does not recognize friends and Democrats in private,” they continued.
“Whatever the degree of presidential decline at present, it is certain to get worse in the future. The nation deserves full assurance that the president of the United States, regardless of party affiliation or ideology, remains fully competent.”
The editorial board also accuses Biden, his family, Democratic Party leaders and the media of deliberately concealing Biden’s decline from the American public.
“The reason Democrats find themselves in such a predicament is likely because Biden and his family took his advanced age into full consideration when they decided to run again last year, and because the White House, Democratic Party leaders, the media and various other actors made no attempt to cover up Biden’s condition,” the column read. “They all knew what was going on, but thought that if they didn’t talk about it, people wouldn’t find out. Of course they did.”
President Biden during his electrifying performance at last month’s debate. ((Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) | (Photo by Andrew Caballero Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images) | Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images))
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“This cover-up was designed to deceive the American people, and its first victims were Democratic primary voters, who were denied any real choice or voice in their party’s nominee. Serious potential candidates were pressured into sidelining and pressured into publicly supporting Biden, who refused to debate the few close primary opponents he attracted.”
The editorial called on Democrats to apologize to Rep. Dean Phillips, a former presidential candidate who repeatedly warned about Biden’s current situation but was ignored because he “said the quiet part out loud.”
They go on to accuse Democrats and the media of turning on Biden after his debate gaffes “not out of any remorse for previously lying about his condition, but out of fear of being found out and losing.”
“This shameful act, which literally put the country at risk, must never be forgotten,” the editors wrote.
House Speaker Johnson leads Republican call for President Biden to resign, calling him ‘unfit for duty’
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris smile as they watch fireworks over the National Mall from the White House balcony during an Independence Day event on the White House South Lawn on July 4, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
The editors said that if Biden, who has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee, were to step down immediately, it would “make it easier for Harris to reset the campaign.”
“Democrats would be better off looking to a governor other than Harris, ideally one with a more moderate image. But that will likely be extremely difficult, if not impossible, given Biden’s support, his demanding timeline, and the difficulty of ignoring an African-American woman,” they wrote.
While the political impact of Harris remains to be seen, the editorial board concluded that “at the very least, the centerpiece of the Democratic campaign will no longer be the patently falsehood that nearly everyone knows it to be.”
Hours after Biden withdrew, Clinton and others endorsed Kamala Harris
“Biden is not vying to become the next president of the United States until January 2029, and if he truly wants to put the country first as he said in his statement, he should step down as president now.”
The blunt editorial came shortly after Biden announced he was dropping out of the race and as Republican lawmakers called on him to resign.
“If Joe Biden is unfit to run for president, then he is unfit to serve,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, said in a statement. “He must resign immediately. We hope November 5th comes soon.”
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Democratic lawmakers who called on Biden to step down say they are confident he can complete the roughly five months remaining in his term.
Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
