NYT Editorial Board Reiterates Demand for Biden to Step Down So He Can Stop ‘Embarrassing Himself’

The New York Times editorial board has published another op-ed calling on Democrats to publicly denounce President Biden’s 2024 presidential bid after he failed to allay concerns about his mental health last week.

The outlet had first called on the embattled 81-year-old president to suspend his campaign the day after his disastrous debate against Donald Trump in Atlanta, where he showed signs of confusion and froze on stage.

The Times added in a scathing article that since the June 27 debate, Biden has “offered little comfort” to Democrats who want him to abandon his party’s likely nomination and step aside in favor of another candidate.

Biden “has maintained a scripted and controlled schedule of public appearances. He has largely avoided taking questions from voters or reporters — the kind of interactions that reveal his limitations and have gotten him into so much trouble on the debate stage,” the Times editorial board wrote.

“And when he put down his teleprompter, including during a 22-minute interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Friday, he continued to appear a man in decline.”

Concerns about his mental acuity are so great that Democrats “from the rank and file to the highest levels of the party” must “speak clearly” to Biden and tell him that he is “embarrassing himself and endangering his legacy,” the Times said.

“He needs to hear, loud and clear, that he is no longer an effective spokesperson for his own priorities.

“President Biden is acutely aware of what is at stake. But he seems to have lost sight of his own role in this national drama. As the situation worsens, he has come to see himself as indispensable,” the editorial board said.

“He doesn’t seem to understand that he is now the problem – and that the best hope for Democrats to keep the White House is for him to step down.”

Several congressional Democrats publicly expressed concern about Biden last week and called for his removal.

But the Times said the number of Democrats willing to speak out publicly is simply not enough and that the “whispering campaign” of Democrats patiently waiting for Biden to make his own decision is “inadequate” for this “urgent” moment.

For years, the president has been protected by his advisers, who frequently use teleprompters, pre-screened questions, infrequent spontaneous news conferences and hand-picked reporters. Biden’s “off-the-cuff” statements are typically delivered in response to brief, loud questions.

The editorial board argued that the octogenarian was trying to “defy reality” by failing to seriously acknowledge consistent surveys showing that a majority of Americans are concerned about his health and mental state.

By ignoring the poll numbers, Biden is putting “the country at risk by continuing to insist that he is the best Democrat to defeat Mr. Trump,” the Times writes.

The committee criticized Biden for his letter to congressional Democrats on Monday, in which he insisted he would not step down. The Times noted that he did not once mention concerns about his mental acuity or the debate.

Refusing to acknowledge other candidacies “is tantamount to dismissing the potential candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris or any younger, more vigorous Democrat, and in effect asking the American people to trust her over their own lying eyes,” the article continues.

Biden’s withdrawal before Democrats officially choose him as their nominee would make it easier for the party to select his replacement.

According to the Times, Biden’s argument that he was elected in previous state primaries doesn’t hold water because the system was set up as a “coronation” at the time.

Biden’s insistence that voters base their decision on his record rather than his age is a point, the Times writes. But there’s no guarantee his record will last, and now not giving up could secure Trump another term.