The New York Times editorial board in an editorial published Friday urged President Joe Biden to step aside in the 2024 race after his poor performance in the presidential debate in Atlanta.
“The clearest path for Democrats to defeat a candidate defined by his lies is to deal truthfully with the American public: acknowledge that Mr. Biden can’t continue his race, and create a process to select someone more capable to stand in his place to defeat Mr. Trump in November,” the editorial board wrote.
Since Biden challenged Trump to the debate, he should have prepared better.
“The truth Mr. Biden needs to confront now is that he failed his own test,” the board wrote.
The Biden campaign brushed off the decision by the editorial board in a statement Friday.
“The last time Joe Biden lost the New York Times editorial board’s endorsement it turned out pretty well for him,” said campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond, who was previously a White House aide and a congressman from Louisiana.
Although Biden’s age has been a thing of concern among Democrats and Democratic supporters, they agreed that it was too late for him to step down now.
Biden has given no indication that he plans to step aside, but he has the option to withdraw before he is formally nominated at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.
Although Biden did not look equal to the task during the debate, he was energetic during a campaign speech on Friday.
“I know I’m not a young man,” Biden told supporters in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday afternoon. “I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know — I know how to tell the truth!”
Biden, at 81, is the oldest president in American history. His opponent, former President Donald Trump, is the second-oldest person ever to serve as president.
