New York Times editorial board urges Biden to drop out of presidential race

The
New
York
Times

editorial
board
on
Friday
urged
President

Joe
Biden
to
exit
the
presidential
election
contest
against

Donald
Trump,
citing
the
Democrat’s

poor
debate
performance
the
previous
night.

“The
president
appeared
on
Thursday
night
as
the
shadow
of
a
great
public
servant,”
the
Times
editorial
said.
“He
struggled
to
explain
what
he
would
accomplish
in
a
second
term.
He
struggled
to
respond
to
Mr.
Trump’s
provocations.
He
struggled
to
hold
Mr.
Trump
accountable
for
his
lies,
his
failures
and
his
chilling
plans.
More
than
once,
he
struggled
to
make
it
to
the
end
of
a
sentence.”

“Mr.
Biden
has
said
that
he
is
the
candidate
with
the
best
chance
of
taking
on
this
threat
of
tyranny
and
defeating
it.
His
argument
rests
largely
on
the
fact
that
he
beat
Mr.
Trump
in
2020,”
it
said. “That
is
no
longer
a
sufficient
rationale
for
why
Mr.
Biden
should
be
the
Democratic
nominee
this
year.”

The
stunning
editorial
came
a
day
after
Biden
gave
a

blundering
performance
in
his
first
debate
against
Trump
in
the
2024

White
House
race.

”It
should
be
remembered
that

Mr.
Biden
challenged
Mr.
Trump
to
this
verbal
duel,”
the
editorial
said.
“He
set
the
rules,
and
he
insisted
on
a
date
months
earlier
than
any
previous
general
election
debate.
He
understood
that
he
needed
to
address
longstanding
public
concerns
about
his
mental
acuity
and
that
he
needed
to
do
so
as
soon
as
possible.”

“The
truth
Mr.
Biden
needs
to
confront
now
is
that
he
failed
his
own
test.”

The
editorial
comes
as
a
number
of
Democrats
and

fundraisers
consider
pushing
for
Biden
to
step
aside
in
the
contest.

The
Times
editorial
board
for
decades
has
been
the
leading
liberal
newspaper
editorial
voice
in
the
United
States.

But
in
recent
years,
the
paper’s
news
section
has
been
criticized
by
some
liberals
for
its
coverage
of
Hillary
Clinton,
the
2016
Democratic
nominee,
and
Biden.

Biden,
for
his
part, showed
no
indication
he
was
considering
exiting
the
race
Friday.

While
nodding
at
his
problematic
debate
performance,
Biden
doubled
down
on
criticism
of
Trump
in
a
speech
on
North
Carolina
and
in
social
media
posts
on
X.

“I
don’t
walk
as
easily
as
I
used
to.
I
don’t
speak
as
smoothly
as
I
used
to.
I
don’t
debate
as
well
as
I
used
to,”
Biden
said
at
a
campaign
event
on
Friday.
“But
I
know
what
I
do
know:
I
know
how
to
tell
the
truth.
I
know
right
from
wrong,
and
I
know
how
to
do
this
job.
I
know
how
to
get
things
done.”

“I
give
you
my
word
as
a
Biden
I
would
not
be
running
again
if
I
didn’t
believe
with
all
my
heart
and
soul
I
can
do
this
job,
because
quite
frankly,
the
stakes
are
too
high.”

Replacing
the
Democratic
nominee
for
president
at
this
point
in
the
election
cycle
would
not
just
be
politically
risky
for
the
party,

it
would
also
be
very
difficult.
The
only
likely
way
to
replace
Biden
would
be
for
him
to
willingly
drop
out
of
the
race.

Responding
to
the
Times
editorial,
a
Biden
campaign
aide
told
NBC,
“The
last
time
Joe Biden lost
the
New
York
Times
editorial
board’s
endorsement
it
turned
out
pretty
well
for
him.”