The New York Times editorial board has called on Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race after the debate with Donald Trump, and for the US Democratic Party to look for a “more energetic candidate”, Babel writes.
The first televised debate took place on June 27 between 81-year-old Biden and 78-year-old Trump. After the debate, the American media and social media exploded with a single opinion — Joe Biden is probably too old to run for president.
The NYT noted that Biden’s main arguments were based on the fact that he had already defeated Trump in the 2020 presidential election. However, this justification is no longer enough for Biden to become the Democratic candidate this year.
During the debates, the president had to convince that he meets the requirements of the position he wants to hold for the next term. However, voters cannot be expected to ignore the obvious: Biden is not the same as he was four years ago, — the journalists noted.
At the debate, Biden spoke quietly, often forgot his own thoughts, and could not complete sentences clearly. The editorial board noted that Biden was “a great president” and that “the nation prospered under his leadership”. But the greatest favor he can do for the country now is to announce that he will not run for re-election.
The NYT journalists are convinced that there are alternative, more energetic and convincing candidates among the Democrats. They note that voters should not have to choose between Biden’s shortcomings and Trump’s shortcomings, as the stakes for America are “extremely high”.
Nominating a new Democratic candidate this late in the campaign is not an easy decision, but it reflects the scale and severity of the challenge Trump poses to the country’s values, as well as Biden’s inability to stand up to him, — the NYT editorial board said.
At the same time, the newspaper emphasizes that Trump is “a significant threat to democracy — a volatile and selfish figure who is not worthy of public trust”. His performance at the debate “should be viewed as a disqualification” because he “brazenly and repeatedly lied about his own actions, his history as president, and his opponent”. So now the Democrats face a difficult task — to put the interests of the nation above the ambitions of the current US President, Joe Biden.
The clearest way for Democrats to defeat a candidate who is defined by his lies is to be honest with the American public: to admit that Biden cannot continue his race and choose someone more capable of defeating Trump in November, — the journalists said.
Biden commented on the debate and admitted that he was “not young anymore”.
