U.S. President Joe Biden takes a breather during the CNN presidential debate at CNN Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, June 27, 2024. President Biden and Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump, face off in the first debate of the 2024 presidential election.
Justin Sullivan | AFP | Getty Images
The New York Times Editorial Committee President Trump on Friday urged President Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential nomination race, citing Biden’s poor performance in the previous night’s Democratic debate.
“The president emerged Thursday night as a shadow of the great public servant he is,” 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, mistakes and terrible plans. More than once, he struggled to finish a sentence.”
“Biden says he is the candidate most likely to confront and defeat this threat of tyranny. His argument rests heavily on the fact that he beat Trump in 2020,” the paper said. “That’s no longer enough of a reason for Biden to be this year’s Democratic nominee.”
The shocking editorial came the day after Biden made a gaffe during his first 2024 presidential debate with Trump.
“Let’s not forget that Biden challenged Trump to this debate,” the editorial said. “He set the rules and insisted on a date months earlier than any previous general election debate. He knew he needed to address long-standing public concerns about his mental health and to do so as soon as possible.”
“The truth Biden must now face is that he failed his own test.”
The editorial comes as many Democrats and fundraisers are considering calling on Biden to drop out of the race.
For decades, the Times editorial board has dominated liberal newspaper editorial writing in the United States.
But in recent years, the paper’s news section has come under fire from some liberals for its coverage of 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Biden.
Biden, meanwhile, gave no indication Friday that he was considering dropping out of the race.
While Biden wallowed over his questionable debate performance, he doubled down on his criticism of Trump in his North Carolina speech and in social media posts about X.
“I can’t walk as easily as I used to. I can’t talk as smoothly as I used to. I can’t debate as well as I used to,” Biden said at a campaign event on Friday, “But I know what I know. I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done.”
“As Biden, I can assure you that if I didn’t truly believe I could get the job done, I wouldn’t run again because, frankly, the stakes are just too high.”
Replacing the Democratic presidential nominee at this point in the election cycle would be not only politically risky for the party, but also extremely difficult: The only likely way to replace Biden would be for him to drop out of the race on his own.
In response to the New York Times editorial, a Biden campaign aide told NBC, “The last time Joe Biden lost the support of the New York Times editorial board, it turned out pretty well for him.”
