A presidential historian suggests that President Joe Biden should not only end his re-election bid but should also resign from office.
During an appearance on CNN, historian Douglas Brinkley was asked by anchor Jim Acosta, “Is it possible that privately, behind the scenes, perhaps the president is not so sure he’s going to run, and we might see him make an announcement that he’s going to bow out? What do you think about all of that?”
“I think that’s probably the case. I mean, unless he’s completely insular and oblivious to American political culture, their drumbeat is for him to leave. I mean, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Brinkley responded.
He went on:
“A sitting president that was in good stead, a 90-minute, horrific debate, and now at least 50 percent of the Democratic Party — I say more than that, probably closer to 65 percent — are saying, ‘please go, go, go.’ And like an old Herman Melville story, Biden is saying, ‘I prefer not to. I prefer not to leave.’ And he keeps digging in. But I think he’ll have to probably go in the end.”
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Acosta responded, “Folks are saying, well, if Biden jumps out, it’s like 1968 all over again, and it’s going to be a big mess for the party. Does that necessarily have to be the case?”
“There’s no history repeating itself like that ’68 [convention],” Brinkley answered. “If Biden tomorrow said, ‘I’m stepping down and Vice President Kamala Harris is president, I’m going back to Delaware and I’ll be giving her my advice. I’m the highest thing there is in the land, a private citizen,’ that’s the kind of thing Jefferson would say.”
He added, “That’s the kind of thing Theodore Roosevelt would say. He would look good, Biden. And he would have put the first woman president of the U.S. in, and then Chicago would be about who’s running with Kamala Harris. And Kamala Harris is the easiest person to inherit those delegates and to assume the donor money.”
Acosta asked, “Is that what you think you should do?”
“I think he should,” Brinkley answered.
When asked to clarify that he was saying Biden should resign, the historian said, “Yes, I do, because how do you win when your entire party is pleading with you to step aside? Yes, there are groups particularly, you know, a certain, you know, AOC I know is sticking by him, and some labor people are, but it’s dividing the Democratic Party to split and get like a coconut in half. How do you go into Chicago that divided? And it’s already going to be hurlyburly in Chicago because the anti-Gaza-Israel protests will be back.”
“He needs to streamline the party, and by writing the letter that “I’m stepping back due to health” and, you know… Do a cognitive test first. And if you do the cognitive test, if you pass, it may be different. But if you have trouble with it in any way, say, ‘My time’s up. I’ve served my country. But here you have an incredible person in Kamala Harris. America at long last, the land of liberty and democracy and equal rights. We finally have a woman president and she comes to you,'” he added.
