New York Times’ Kristof Calls on Biden to Give Up in Shocked Column

New York Times journalist Nick Kristof directly called the president Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race after his widely criticized debate Thursday evening.

Kristof began his argument by praising Biden as a “good man who capped a long career in public service with a successful presidential term.” The two-time Pulitzer Prize winner later wrote:

But I hope he reverses his performance in Thursday night’s debates and withdraws from the race, thereby rejecting the choice of a Democratic nominee at the convention in August. One of the perils this country faces, I believe and Biden believes, is the risk of a Donald Trump victory. And after the debate, it’s hard to avoid the feeling that keeping Biden in the race increases the likelihood that Trump ascends to the White House in January.

Biden’s debate performance against Donald Trump set off alarm bells in the media as MSNBC discussed the math on how Biden could be replaced at the convention and at CNN. Van Jones called the evening “painful” and suggested that Democrats

to find another way forward.

Kristof argued that Biden’s raspy voice and sometimes distant gaze during the debate not only did not allay concerns about Biden’s age, but “on the contrary, he amplified them.” Kristof added:

In some sense, that may be unfair. It was a debate. A candidate’s physical frailty, raspy voice, and rambling responses may not be good indicators of how well that person will govern. But in this election, they are probably good predictors that the candidate will lose in November and not get a chance to govern again.

He then argued that the negative “narrative” surrounding Biden’s age would be impossible to correct before the election and offered some possible replacements: “The governor. Gretchen Whitmer from Michigan, senator Sherrod Brown from Ohio and Gina Raimondo, the Secretary of Commerce. And there are many others.”

Kristof concluded by acknowledging that it would be a “heartbreaking choice” for Biden, but the “safest path for our nation.”