The New York Times Editorial Board He called on President Biden to resign. He was named the Democratic nominee for president in 2024 on Friday, the day after his disastrous performance in a debate with Donald Trump.
While the liberal Grey Lady argued that the 81-year-old Biden would have been a “fine president,” she concluded that the sitting president appeared “a shadow of a great public servant” on the debate stage and that continuing to run would be a “reckless gamble.”
“There is no reason for the party to endanger the stability and security of the nation by forcing voters to choose between Trump’s shortcomings and Biden’s,” the committee wrote. “The gamble is too great to simply expect Americans to ignore or downplay Biden’s advanced age and frailty as they see it with their own eyes.”
“Mr. Biden answered an urgent question Thursday night, and it was not the answer he and his supporters were hoping for,” the Times concluded. “But if the risks of a second term in Trump’s presidency are as great as he says — and we agree that they are — his commitment to this country leaves him and his party with only one choice.”
The editorial was published two hours after Biden arrived in New York City for the first day of a two-day fundraising spree that includes a big-ticket event in the Hamptons on Saturday.
This came after a day of confusion and chaos among Democrats, with Biden repeatedly freezing up, slipping up and losing his train of thought during the first of two scheduled debates with his predecessor in Atlanta.
At one point, Biden stared at the podium for nearly 10 seconds, then rose again and said, “We finally defeated Medicare.”
Follow the latest updates from the Trump vs Biden 2024 debate.
The Times editorial board noted that Biden “challenged Trump for this debate, setting the rules and insisting on a date months earlier than any previous general election debate. Biden understood he needed to address long-standing public concerns about his mental competence and do so as soon as possible. The truth Biden must now face is that he himself failed the test.”
Even before The Times’ editorial board weighed in, two of the paper’s most prominent columnists had called for Biden to step aside. “There are several prominent figures in the Democratic Party who seem well-positioned to beat Trump in November,” Nicholas Kristof wrote. Late Thursday “This is going to be a tough choice,” he said after the debate.
“But Mr. President, one way you can serve your country in 2024 is to announce your retirement and call on your delegates to take your place,” he said, “because that’s the safest path for our country.”
Thomas Friedman, who called Biden a “friend,” said he was “moved to tears” after watching the debate and acknowledged that “Joe Biden is a good man and a good president, but he should not run for reelection.”
