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President Joe Biden and his team have been pushing back against the growing notion that he should step away from the presidential campaign amid widespread concern about his mental and physical fitness. This defense, which has been defiant if not all-out combative, has leaned heavily on the tired political tool of blaming so-called “elites.”
It is the elites, Biden tells us, who want him out. And only God could convince him to step away.
Biden has it backward. If anything, it has been the insular world of Washington Democratic elites, especially the president’s inner circle, that has seemingly failed to grasp how the undeniable realities of his decline have concerned voters for some time. While the Democratic insiders are scrambling right now, either calling for Biden’s departure from the race or rushing to his defense, everyday Americans were questioning Biden’s ability to continue in the country’s top office well before his startlingly weak debate performance.
This was already true back in February, when Special Counsel Robert Hur cited Biden’s forgetfulness as part of a decision not to pursue charges against the president for mishandling classified documents. Those details, and Biden’s angry response, raised “the clear and necessary question about whether he is up for another round in arguably the most challenging and consequential role in the world,” we wrote at the time. Several months later, we and a majority of Americans have concluded that no, he isn’t up for it.
You don’t have to be George Clooney or Ste phen King to recognize the realities that Biden simply isn’t who he was four years ago or that he should withdraw from the race. Someone else should be the standard bearer in the critical race to prevent another disastrous Trump presidency that would surely be defined by retribution and regression.
When this editorial board endorsed Joe Biden for president in 2020, we said he “would restore a foundation of empathy, decency and competence to our nation’s highest office.” And he has delivered. As a steward of democracy he deserves our thanks, as an aging 81-year-old man he deserves our empathy, and as a presidential candidate he deserves our scrutiny.
After a woeful debate performance in late June confirmed the already mounting fears of an overwhelming majority of Americans, the evidence strongly suggests that Biden is not prepared to bring the same competence to a second term. Age catches up with us all, and there should be little doubt that it has caught up with Joe Biden.
To be abundantly clear, a diminished Joe Biden still equipped with the moral and political compass he brings to the table would nevertheless be better than Donald Trump any day of the week. Plus, not enough attention has been paid to Trump’s own age, forgetfulness, increasingly rambling and incoherent speeches, and capacity in general. He isn’t the man he was four years ago, either (he also wasn’t a convicted felon four years ago). Somehow, Trump is even more vengeful, even more detached from the truth, whether willfully or driven by confusion.
Biden has fought admirably to preserve the foundational ideal that America is bigger than any one man. He stood up to Trump in 2020 and won, and the country is better for it.
The best thing he can do for the country in this moment is to realize that this is someone else’s fight to take up moving forward. Doing so would cement his legacy as a true servant of the public. Failing to do so would be stubborn and selfish, trading patriotism for egoism and making Biden look more like the man he seeks to save us from again.
A lot can change in a few months, but we’re confident in a few things: Biden won’t beat Trump by acting like Trump. And the voting public can’t unsee Biden’s decline, especially when he strays from the comfort of a teleprompter. These aren’t “elite” perspectives — these are fairly simple recognitions that should be plain to all Americans, including the president himself.
