AJC editorial board calls for Biden to exit presidential race

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) editorial board called on President Biden to end his reelection bid after “his alarming performance” at Thursday night’s debate.

In a piece published online Saturday evening, the board said the incumbent Democrat should step aside “for the good of the nation he has served so admirably for half a century.”

“Biden’s candidacy was grounded in his incumbency and the belief of Democratic leaders and pollsters that he stood the best chance of defeating Trump in November. That is no longer the case,” the board wrote. “That reality may be difficult to accept for a man whose personal and political lives have been defined by resiliency, but it is the truth.”

The board touted the “courage and dignity that have defined Biden’s political career,” but added, “Biden deserves a better exit from public life than the one he endured when he shuffled off the stage Thursday night.”

The editorial comes amid heightened concerns among some in the Democratic Party about leaving Biden on the ticket after his shaky performance during the first presidential debate against former President Trump on Thursday.

During the debate, Biden’s voice was raspy, and sources close to Biden said he had a cold. He stumbled through some of his answers and, at one point, appeared to lose his train of thought mid-sentence.

Biden and close allies have sought to assuage public concerns following the debate, saying Biden had a bad night but that one debate performance does not define a person’s term in office, but the AJC editorial board said, “These responses are insulting to the American people.”

“This wasn’t a bad night; it was confirmation of the worst fears of some of Biden’s most ardent supporters — that after 36 years in the U.S. Senate, eight more as vice president and a term in the White House, age has finally caught up to him,” the board wrote.

The AJC editorial board warned of what it characterizes as the imminent threat Trump poses to the republic. The board chastised Trump for lying throughout the debate – more than 30 times, according to a CNN fact check – but stressed the evermore importance of having a strong candidate atop the Democratic ticket.

“Trump’s performance Thursday night should have prompted leaders in his party to repudiate his falsehoods. But it didn’t.

“Biden has pledged to do all he can to prevent Trump from returning to the White House. The election is still four months away,” the board wrote. “If he truly hopes to defeat Trump, he must pass the torch to the next generation of Democratic leaders and urge the party to nominate another candidate at its convention in Chicago in August.”