Major newspapers call for Biden to drop out after debate

Several major newspapers' editorial boards are calling for President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 race after his disastrous performance in Thursday's CNN Presidential Debate—the first of two with former President Donald Trump .

Biden continues to defy calls to suspend his reelection campaign at a North Carolina rally Friday, vowing to beat Trump in November.

Democratic strategists and pundits questioned their support for the president immediately following the debate in Atlanta. Biden's top allies, however, continue to rally around him.

Some media outlets aren't so sure. While The Philadelphia Inquirer called for Trump to drop out, more newspapers are calling on Biden to suspend his campaign after the debate.

Here is a look at the outlets making the case that Biden should leave the 2024 race:

The New York Times

The day following the first presidential debate, The New York Times editorial board published an editorial arguing Biden should leave the race "to serve his country."

The editorial board made clear it prefers the president over Trump, who it implied is a threat to democracy, but questions Biden's electability in 2024.

"As it stands, the president is engaged in a reckless gamble," said the Times editorial board, which operates separately from its newsroom. "There are Democratic leaders better equipped to present clear, compelling and energetic alternatives to a second Trump presidency."

The Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Tribune said the president should end his reelection bid in an editorial published Friday , calling Biden's campaign for a second term "a ridiculous idea."

The piece also takes shots at Trump, calling him "narcissistic" and "bereft of empathy."

The Tribune's editorial board argues Biden "should announce that he will be a single-term president who now has seen the light when it comes to his own capabilities in the face of the singular demands of being the president of the United States."

The Washington Post

The day after the debate, The Washington Post said in an editorial that Biden should do some "soul searching" after a "calamitous" performance.

The piece argues Trump's rhetoric on Thursday proved why preventing his reelection is "the paramount consideration" in the 2024 race.

"Biden faces a personal decision but also a presidential one: What would be best for the country, his personal feelings notwithstanding?" The Post editorial board asks.

More: Presidential debate fact check: What Trump, Biden got right (and wrong)

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Two days after the first presidential debate in Atlanta, Georgia, the state's largest newspaper called for Biden to drop out of the race.

"The unfortunate truth is that Biden should withdraw from the race, for the good of the nation he has served so admirably for half a century," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial board said on June 29.

The board continued, calling Biden's retirement "necessary" after he failed to deliver a "competent and coherent vision" for the country's future at the debate.

The Economist

The Economist reiterated its calls for Biden to make way for another Democratic candidate.

The outlet first argued in 2022 that Biden should step aside and put their concerns about his reelection campaign on its cover in January .

"Mr. Biden says he is standing again to help ordinary Americans and to save democracy from Mr. Trump's vengeful demagoguery," The Economist editorial board said Friday. "Yet if Mr. Biden really cares about his mission, then his last and greatest public service should be to stand aside for another Democratic nominee."

Rachel Barber is a 2024 election fellow at USA TODAY, focusing on politics and education. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, as @rachelbarber_

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Major newspapers call for Biden to drop out after debate