The New York Timesâ editorial board is doubling down on its call for President Joe Biden to step aside from the 2024 race â even as he insists that will not happen.
In an editorial on Tuesday, The Times wrote, âFor voters who held out hope that President Bidenâs failure to communicate during last monthâs debate was an aberration, the intervening days have offered little comfort.â
âMr. Biden, instead of campaigning vigorously to disprove doubts and demonstrate that he can beat Mr. Trump, has maintained a scripted and controlled schedule of public appearances. He has largely avoided taking questions from voters or journalists â the kinds of interactions that reveal his limitations and caused him so much trouble on the debate stage. And when he has cast aside his teleprompter, most notably during a 22-minute interview with ABCâs George Stephanopoulos on Friday, he has continued to appear as a man in decline,â it continued.
The editorial noted the presidentâs poll numbers have dropped, while he has insisted they are simply wrong.
Turning to his refusal to drop out of the race, the Times noted Biden cited his victories in the Democratic primary. But it argued, âDemocratic leaders shouldnât rely solely on the judgment of the few voters who turned out in this yearâs coronation primaries.â
âThey should listen instead to the much larger group of voters who have been telling every pollster in America their concerns for a long time. Mr. Biden has to pay attention to the will of the broader electorate that will determine the outcome in November,â it insisted.
Additionally, the editorial board recalled that while he was defending his fitness for the job, Biden said he needed to sleep more and work less after 8 p.m., and added, âHe has resisted the obvious conclusion that a man who needs to clock out at 8 should not attempt to perform simultaneously two of the worldâs most difficult and all-consuming jobs â serving as president and running for president.â
The Times called on Democrats to âspeak plainly to Mr. Biden. They need to tell him that his defiance threatens to hand victory to Mr. Trump. They need to tell him that he is embarrassing himself and endangering his legacy. He needs to hear, plain and clear, that he is no longer an effective spokesman for his own priorities.â
It also pointed out Democrats have reportedly raised concerns about Biden in private, but argued that a âwhisper campaign is inadequate to this moment, because the moment is urgent. The longer Mr. Biden continues his grasp on the nomination, the harder it will be to replace him, as he certainly knows.â
âThe time has arrived to speak forcefully to the president and the public about the need for a new candidate, before time runs out for other candidates to make their case to the partyâs convention delegates,â it insisted.
The Times also argued Biden is âwinningâ the âstaring contestâ between Democrats who want him to step aside and said he is âunwilling to accept the reality of his situation.â
Naturally, the paper spent several sentences explaining why it believes former President Donald Trump is the âworstâ president in modern history and spoke of his alleged mental decline.
âMr. Trump is manifestly unfit to serve as president, and there is reason to believe a majority of the American people still can be rallied against his candidacy. But Democrats will struggle to press that case with voters so long as their own standard-bearer is a man who also appears unfit to serve as president for the next four years, albeit for very different reasons,â the Times said.
Finally, the editorial board wrote, âPresident Biden clearly understands the stakes. But he seems to have lost track of his own role in this national drama. As the situation has become more dire, he has come to regard himself as indispensable. He does not seem to understand that he is now the problem â and that the best hope for Democrats to retain the White House is for him to step aside.â
A day after Bidenâs disastrous debate performance last month, the Times called for the president to drop out of the race.