Biden Should Drop Out

I have long opposed calls for President Joe Biden to drop out. I no longer do. His performance at Thursday night’s debate proved he is not fit to be president, let alone finish an arduous campaign.

Within the first 15 minutes of the CNN debate, it was abundantly clear that Biden was not up to the task. His raspy voice, perhaps from too much debate prep, was disastrous for viewers who tuned in with an open mind about the state of the 81-year-old commander-in-chief. He lost his train of thought in the 14th minute of the debate, before feebly declaring, “We defeated Medicare.”

Democratic officials and progressive pundits have sounded the alarm about the future of the United States should Trump win the 2024 race. Democracy itself is on the line. If the circumstances are so dire, how did the power brokers within the DNC let us get to the end of June before the nation could fully see how much Biden has aged in just the last three-and-a-half years?

We’ve been told that Biden is sharp as a tack and fully engaged in closed-door meetings at the White House, though his lack of interviews or press conferences raised suspicions. Expectations for Biden at the debate could not have been lower, and yet? He did not pass that very low bar.

To be clear, this is not an endorsement of former President Donald Trump, a duplicitous con man who prioritizes his own personal benefit over unifying the nation he wants to lead again. If I had my druthers, Trump would also drop out, and a more reasonable Republican nominee with traditional conservative bona fides would step up to serve the country. But it’s clear that the GOP power structure is now founded entirely on fealty to Trump. The Republican primary proved that.

Senator Lindsay Graham famously said of Biden in 2015 that he was “as good a man as God ever created.” That was a different political time, and Graham was engaging in loving hyperbole. While I don’t agree with all of his policies, I believe Joe Biden is an empathetic and good-natured man who has faced many personal tragedies but persevered as an honorable civil servant who has served to benefit his fellow citizens.

Watching him struggle to keep up with Trump’s aggressive debate rhetoric — much of which was created out of whole cloth — was painful to watch. I dare say, it felt at times like elder abuse.

Biden’s closest confidants need to circle the wagons and ask if all of this is still worth it. Is it not better to return to the original conception of his 2020 candidacy, as a the guy responsible for righting the listing and divided ship that was the United States at the end of the Trump administration.

Thing is, it doesn’t even matter that I’m right about whether Biden is fit to run and sound to serve. The media is going to spend the next few weeks and months relentlessly covering his age. It is now the singular issue of this campaign. It will not get better by the next debate, and it will not get better by November 5th. Biden will wear this performance like Flava Flav wears a clock. It’s over; let Biden retire to Rehoboth Beach and choose a candidate with a fighting chance.

The idea of Biden bowing out was long considered an unimaginable path. But we are living in a time where unimaginable things are happening, and Biden’s geriatric performance during the CNN debate achieved one thing: making Trump the likely president of the United States come 2025. Biden can be a real hero by taking a brave and bold step and dropping out.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.