Four editorial boards at major publications are calling for President Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race after his performance at last week’s debate.
The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, have all called for Biden to leave the race against former President Donald Trump.
The New York Times editorial board wrote a piece titled “To Serve His Country, President Biden Should Leave the Race,” the editorial board makes the argument that Biden should drop out for the “future of American democracy.”
“Donald Trump has proved himself to be a significant jeopardy to that democracy — an erratic and self-interested figure unworthy of the public trust. He systematically attempted to undermine the integrity of elections,” the Times editorial board wrote.
“At Thursday’s debate, the president needed to convince the American public that he was equal to the formidable demands of the office he is seeking to hold for another term. Voters, however, cannot be expected to ignore what was instead plain to see: Mr. Biden is not the man he was four years ago,” they continued.
The Wall Street Journal called Biden’s performance at the debate “painful.”
“The President’s faltering effort allowed Mr. Trump to win the debate despite a mediocre performance in his own right,” the editorial board wrote.
“One inevitable question is why those closest to Mr. Biden let him run again. We and many others warned them. It was clearly a selfish act for him to seek a second term. But did they really think they could hide his decline from the public for an entire election campaign? It’s hard to believe they wanted this early debate as a way to change the campaign in their favor,” the board continued.
