NYT first to call on Biden to quit presidential race after debate
4 Min Read
The NYT says Biden is "not the man he was four years ago" as former US President Barack Obama takes to social media in defense of Biden to claim that "bad debate nights happen."
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President Joe Biden speaks during the grand opening ceremony for the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center, Friday, June 28, 2024, in New York. (AP)
The New York Times’s editorial board has called on President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race after what it called a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.
Adding more pressure on the White House, the New York Times editorial board released a piece on Friday stating that “the greatest public service [Biden] can now perform is to announce that he will not continue to run for re-election.”
According to the piece, “The president appeared on Thursday night as the shadow of a great public servant,” adding, “He struggled to explain what he would accomplish in a second term. He struggled to respond to [Trump’s] provocations. He struggled to hold [Trump] accountable for his lies, his failures and his chilling plans. More than once, he struggled to make it to the end of a sentence.”
It went on to say that "Biden is not the man he was four years ago."
In it, leading New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman urged his "friend" to quit, declaring, "Joe Biden, a good man and a good president, has no business seeking reelection."
Read next: Biden, Trump debate fact-checked over false claims, disinformation
FT, Atlantic, WSJ urge Biden to quit
Meanwhile, former US President Barack Obama took to social media in defense of Biden to claim that "bad debate nights happen", noting, “But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself.”
During a campaign stop in North Carolina on Friday, Biden admitted being embarrassed by his performance in the CNN debate by expressing: “I don’t walk as easily 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.”
Other major newspapers have published opinion pieces by their top writers urging Biden to quit, including the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and the Atlantic.
Peggy Noonan, a Wall Street Journal columnist, described letting Biden stay in office "looks like elder abuse."
Cedric Richmond, the Biden campaign co-chair, responded to the NYT's call by telling CNN, "The last time Joe Biden lost The New York Times editorial board's endorsement, it turned out pretty well for him."
'Disaster'
Earlier yesterday, Politico reported, citing three strategists close to three Democratic potential candidates for the presidency, that they received a constant amount of texts during Thursday's debate between candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump calling to replace Biden.
One of the strategists said they had “taken no less than half a dozen key donors texting ‘disaster’ and [the] party needs to do something” but admitted that “not much is possible unless” Biden quits.
A significant Democratic donor and Biden supporter urged Biden to withdraw, given that it was "the worst performance in history" and that Biden was so awful that "no one will pay attention to Trump's lies."
"Biden needs to drop out. No question about it,” the donor said in a text message.
This also follows a statement by Harris who acknowledged that Biden had a "slow start" in Thursday's CNN debate with Trump.
The contrast is clear: Donald Trump lied over and over and over again during the debate.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) June 28, 2024
He would not disavow what happened on January 6.
He would not give a clear answer on whether he would stand by the election results. pic.twitter.com/gegRg0AJub
"It was a slow start, that's obvious to everyone. I'm not going to debate that point," she told CNN, noting Biden's shaky performance.
Harris said Biden's record was "extraordinarily strong," only to admit and then engage in a damage-control mode, saying, "Yes, there was a slow start, but it was a strong finish."
Playing down Biden's bad performance, Harris posted on X: "The contrast is clear: Donald Trump lied over and over and over again during the debate."
