President Biden has repeatedly and correctly stated that at stake in this November's presidential election is the very future of American democracy.
Donald Trump has proven himself a grave danger to that democracy: a mercurial, self-serving figure unworthy of the public's trust. He has systematically tried to undermine the integrity of our elections. His supporters have publicly outlined a 2025 agenda that they say would empower him to carry out the most extreme of his promises and threats. He has vowed that if he returns to the presidency, he will be a different type of president, unconstrained by the checks on power built into the American political system.
Biden has said he is the candidate most likely to confront and defeat this threat of tyranny, and his case rests heavily on the fact that he beat Trump in 2020. That's no longer enough of a reason for Biden to be this year's Democratic nominee.
In Thursday's debate, the president needed to convince Americans that he was up to the demands of the job he was about to serve another term, but he couldn't expect voters to ignore a rather obvious fact: Biden is not the man he was four years ago.
The president emerged Thursday night as a shadow of the great public servant he always was. 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, mistakes and terrible plans. More than once, he struggled to finish sentences.
Biden has been a great president. Under his leadership, the country is thriving, addressing many long-term challenges, and healing the wounds caused by Trump. But the greatest public service Biden can do now is to announce that he will not run for reelection.
As things stand, the President is taking a reckless gamble. There are other Democratic leaders who can offer a clear, compelling, and vigorous alternative to re-election to Trump. There is no reason for Democrats to endanger the stability and security of the nation by forcing voters to choose between Trump's shortcomings and Biden's. Expecting Americans to ignore or downplay Biden's advanced age and frailty as they see it with their own eyes is too big a gamble.
If the race came down to a choice between Trump and Biden, the incumbent president would be the Committee's clear choice. The danger Trump poses is that great. But given that very danger, the danger to the country, and Biden's variability in competence, America needs a stronger challenge to the presumptive Republican nominee. Seeking a new Democratic candidate this late in the race would not be a decision to be taken lightly, but it must reflect the scale and seriousness of Trump's challenge to the values and institutions of this country, and Biden's inadequacy to challenge him.
Withdrawing his candidacy goes against all of Biden's personal and political instincts. He has bounced back from tragedies and setbacks before, and he is clearly confident he can do so again. The president's supporters are already explaining away Thursday's debate as another data point relative to three years of performance. But the president's performance can't be dismissed as a bad night or a cold; it confirmed concerns that have been building for months, maybe years. Biden stumbled even when he tried to lay out policy proposals. He has limited and carefully controlled his public appearances, so his other public comments shouldn't overshadow them.
Let's not forget: Biden challenged Trump to this debate. Biden set the rules and insisted on a date months earlier than any previous general election debate. Biden knew he needed to address long-standing public concerns about his mental health, and he needed to do so as soon as possible.
The truth Biden must now face is that he failed his own test.
Voters say in polls and interviews they want a new voice to challenge Trump. One comfort for Biden and his supporters is that there is still time to back another candidate. Americans are accustomed to drawn-out presidential election battles that span years, whereas in many democracies, campaigns are fought over a matter of months.
It is tragic that Republicans have not engaged in deeper self-reflection after Thursday's debate. Trump's own performance should be considered a disqualification. He brazenly and repeatedly lied about his own actions, his record as president, and his opponent. He outlined plans to damage the American economy, undermine civil liberties, and worsen America's relations with other countries. He refused to commit to accepting defeat, instead reverting to the kind of rhetoric that inspired the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
But the Republican Party has become co-opted by Trump's ambitions, and the onus is on Democrats to put the nation's interests above personal ambition.
Democrats who have followed Biden must now find the courage to tell their party leader the honest truth. The aides and advisers who encouraged his candidacy and shielded him from unscheduled public appearances should recognize how damaged Biden's standing has been and how unlikely it is that he will be able to repair it.
Biden answered an urgent question Thursday night. It wasn't the answer he and his supporters were hoping for. But if the risk of a Trump re-election is as great as he says it is (and we agree it is), his commitment to this country leaves him and his party with only one choice:
The clearest path for Democrats to defeat a candidate defined by lies is to be honest with the American people — that is, to accept that Biden cannot continue the campaign and create a process to select someone more qualified to replace him and defeat Trump in November.
This is Biden's best chance to protect from Trump's malicious distortion of the soul of the nation that inspired him to run for president in 2019. And it is the best service Biden can provide the country he has so nobly served for so many years.
