New York Times calls on Joe Biden to step down
Joe Biden
The New York Times has called on Joe Biden to stand down from the presidential race and relinquish the Democratic nomination to a “stronger candidate” who would have a better chance of beating Donald Trump.
In an article by its editorial board, the newspaper accused Mr Biden of a “reckless gamble” by continuing his re-election bid after a disastrous appearance on the debate stage with Trump on Thursday night.
At the debate, Mr Biden repeatedly struggled to deliver his lines, made factual mistakes and froze in response to moderator questions.
“There are Democratic leaders better equipped to present clear, compelling and energetic alternatives to a second Trump presidency,” The New York Times said.
“There is no reason for the party to risk the stability and security of the country by forcing voters to choose between Mr Trump’s deficiencies and those of Mr Biden.”
The New York Times editorial calling for Biden to stand down - THE NEW YORK TIMES
It added that standing down would be against Mr Biden’s “personal and political instincts” but that Thursday’s debate “cannot be written off as a bad night”.
The decision of The New York Times to condemn Mr Biden’s candidacy is a major shift in the media landscape for the US president, four months before the election in November.
The article came after Democrat lawmakers and strategists called on Mr Biden to reconsider his re-election campaign, and stand down ahead of the Democratic convention in August.
Such a move would allow delegates at the convention to vote freely on who should succeed him. Contenders would likely include Kamala Harris, the vice president, and Gretchen Whitmer and Gavin Newsom, the governors of Michigan and California.
The New York Times has generally been supportive of Mr Biden’s presidency, although its management has clashed with the White House over its reporting of the issue of the president’s age.
Mr Biden was said to be furious about the newspaper’s coverage of the Robert Hur report, which revealed that he had struggled to remember the dates he served as vice president during an evidence session in October last year.
The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post – the other two broadsheet newspapers with significant influence in Washington, both issued articles from their editorial boards calling for Mr Biden to think seriously about his candidacy, but stopped short of asking him to stand down.
The Economist, a free market British newspaper with significant readership in the United States, said Mr Biden should leave the race immediately.
The Telegraph also called for Mr Biden to step down after his performance in Thursday’s debate.
Speaking at a rally on Friday, Mr Biden said he would not step back from the race and stressed that while he knows he is “not a young man” and does not “debate as well as I used to,” he is still the best candidate to beat Trump in November.
“I give you my word as a Biden I would not be running again if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul I can do this job,” he told an audience in Raleigh, North Carolina.
“Quite frankly, the stakes are too high.”
Elton John lends his support to the Biden campaign at the the Stonewall monument on Friday - GETTY IMAGES
Mr Biden is trailing Trump in all seven of the major swing states, and the pair are neck-and-neck in national polls.
The debate on Thursday was considered a major opportunity to spread his message to around 70 million voters, but fell flat after he was unable to perform as planned.
Trump, speaking at his own rally in Virginia on Friday, said Mr Biden “didn’t know what the hell he was doing”.
“The question every voter should be asking themselves today is not whether Joe Biden can survive a 90 minute debate performance, but whether America could survive four more years of crooked Joe Biden in the White House,” he said.
Mr Biden’s allies, including Ms Harris and Mr Newsom, have said he should not stand down and claimed he is the most likely Democratic candidate to win the election.
If Mr Biden was to be replaced, he must choose to hold an open convention in Chicago in August, allowing delegates who pledged to support him after the Democratic primaries to change their vote.
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