Rob Reiner Calls on Biden to Drop Out of Presidential Race

Rob Reiner has joined calls for President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race after a disastrous debate performance and an interview that left viewers skeptical about Biden’s ability to beat Donald Trump. “It’s time to stop messing around,” the filmmaker tweeted Sunday. “If the convict wins, we lose our democracy. Joe Biden has indeed served the United States with honor, decency and dignity. It’s time for Joe Biden to resign.”

Reiner is a longtime Democratic donor and outspoken about his political beliefs. He is among the most prominent Democrats in Hollywood to speak out in favor of Biden’s withdrawal from the campaign, as acclaimed showrunner Damon Lindelof did last week.

In an interview with the Guardian in February, Reiner said: “The question in this election is: Do we want to perpetuate 249 years of American self-government and democracy? Or do we want to hand over power to someone like Donald Trump who has said he wants to destroy the constitution, go after his political enemies and turn America into an autocracy?”

“We see autocracy growing in the world. If we collapse, democracy risks collapsing around the world,” Reiner added.

In the same interview, he revealed that when the FBI asked him if he knew any members of the Communist Party in the 1950s, his father (actor Carl Reiner) replied, “I probably do, but if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.” His mother, actress and singer Estelle Reiner, organized an anti-Vietnam War peace group.

Reiner isn’t the only party donor who has called on Biden to drop out of the race. Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings told ABC News, “Biden is unfortunately in denial about his mental state. He needs to step aside to let a strong Democratic leader beat Trump.”

Ahead of Biden’s interview with ABC News on Friday, former PayPal CEO Bill Harris announced that he had pledged $2 million to the new Democrats for the Next Generation political action committee, which aims to support multiple debates between the candidates for the nomination if Biden ends his campaign.

On Saturday, real estate developer Rick Caruso tweeted in response to a Los Angeles Times article urging Biden to drop out of the race: “I deeply respect Joe Biden’s lifetime of service to our country. But the argument made by @LATstevelopez in this column is the right one. At this critical time, in this vital election, stepping down is the right and honorable thing for President Biden to do.”

Despite those calls, a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll released Saturday shows Biden enjoying his best showing yet in key battleground states. In new polls, Trump is ahead of Biden by just 2% in battleground states in November. He leads in Michigan and Wisconsin and is within the poll’s statistical margin of error in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.