The New York Times editorial board took a bold stance after Thursday night’s presidential debate. Citing President Joe Biden’s awkward performance, it urged Biden to leave the race.
“Mr. Biden has been an admirable president. Under his leadership, the nation has prospered and begun to address a range of long-term challenges, and the wounds ripped open by Mr. Trump have begun to heal. But the greatest public service Mr. Biden can now perform is to announce that he will not continue to run for re-election,” the editorial said.
Other major papers have published similar pieces, either directly telling Biden to drop out or urging him to strongly consider whether he’s doing the right thing by fighting for a second term.
- The Chicago Tribune called on Biden to drop out in an editorial that was also highly critical of former President Donald Trump.
- “If President Biden had weekend plans, he should cancel them in favor of some soul-searching. His calamitous debate performance on Thursday raises legitimate questions about whether he’s up for another four years in the world’s toughest job. It’s incumbent on this incumbent to determine, in conversation with family and aides, whether continuing to seek reelection is in the best interests of the country,” The Washington Post editorial board wrote in a piece published Friday.
- The editorial board for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution jumped into the fray on Saturday, writing that the country will be better off if Biden doesn’t remain in the race. “The unfortunate truth is that Biden should withdraw from the race, for the good of the nation he has served so admirably for half a century,” its editorial board said.
Faith-based news sites have also published columns on Biden’s future, although the pieces were from individual columnists rather than the editorial board.
For example, Robert David Sullivan wrote a column about replacing Biden on the ballot for America, a Catholic magazine. He serves as the publication’s production editor.
“After (Thursday’s) debate, the Democratic Party will only feed conspiracy-mongering and heighten distrust of the electoral process if it sticks with Joe Biden as its nominee. Keeping Mr. Biden on the ballot is like telling voters: ‘Trust us. Don’t believe your eyes and ears,’” Sullivan argued.
Michael Sean Winters shared some similar observations in a column for National Catholic Reporter.
During the debate, “concerns about Biden’s age were not just reinforced. They were verified. It was a disaster for the sitting president,” he wrote.
Christianity Today, which famously criticized evangelical Christians who support Trump during the 2020 presidential election, has not published a piece asking Biden to drop out. But editor in chief Russell Moore did write about the problem with putting too much stock in debates.
“Presidential debates are of some value, but the real question is a much longer game, extending to the past — to the honesty, integrity, and gravity shown in candidates’ lives — and to the future — to how we might best predict the character traits, intuitions, and wisdom of this person in dealing with matters we can’t even imagine now. Debates and forums can show us a little bit of that sometimes, but they can’t get at the most important things,” Moore wrote.
Will Biden drop out?
As of Tuesday morning, Biden has made no indication that he’ll leave the 2024 presidential race.
On Monday, the Biden campaign released a new ad emphasizing Biden’s strengths.
“Folks, I know I’m not a young man, but I know how to do this job. I know how to tell the truth. Donald Trump does not,” Biden wrote in his tweet about the ad.
A CBS/YouGov poll fielded after Thursday’s debate found that 72% of registered voters in the U.S. think Biden does not have the mental and cognitive health to serve as president, as the Deseret News previously reported.