Calls for Biden to step aside ignore an obvious question: Then what? | Editorial

Which presidential candidate is unfit to serve?

Is it President Joe Biden, who hosted a successful NATO summit with world leaders and answered reporters’ questions for nearly an hour, showing a command of foreign policy amid a few verbal stumbles and his trademark long-winded responses?

Or is it convicted felon Donald Trump, who hours later admitted that before he became president, “I didn’t even know what the hell NATO was.” Even worse, after learning about the crucial role the alliance plays in stopping would-be dictators, Trump boasted that he told NATO members, “I will not protect you from Russia.”

There is no comparing the two candidates. An aged Biden tops an ignorant Trump.

And there is no comparing their records.

Trump has one conviction, two impeachments, three more looming criminal indictments, a sexual abuse finding, a financial fraud ruling, a mismanaged pandemic that resulted in thousands of needless deaths, and a presidential term fueled by massive debt, personal pocket lining, more than 30,000 lies, a radicalized U.S. Supreme Court, an attempted coup, and belief that he is above the law.

The full list is longer, and the damage is ongoing.

Meanwhile, for all of Biden’s ambling and bumbling, he still managed to create more than 15 million jobs, record stock market gains, strong wage growth, a resurgence in manufacturing jobs, massive infrastructure investments, major steps combating climate change, record lows in Black poverty and unemployment, and pass the first significant gun safety measure in 30 years.

Biden’s list is also longer. But the real difference is his decency, honor, and respect for the Oval Office.

Yet, in the eyes of some Democratic lawmakers, donors, voters, and pundits, Biden can no longer do the job because he is three years older than Trump and had a bad debate. Minutes after Biden’s NATO news conference ended, Rep. Jim Himes (D., Conn.) called on the president to withdraw from reelection.

Others piled on. Actor and fundraiser George Clooney wrote an op-ed calling on Biden to withdraw. So did political strategist James Carville. The influential New York Times published two unsigned editorials urging Biden to step aside, along with a barrage of news stories and opinion pieces by prominent columnists.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to get graded on a curve.

» READ MORE: The Trump Threat | An occasional series by The Inquirer Editorial Board about the risk posed by a second Donald Trump presidency.

As Biden and other leaders of the free world celebrated NATO’s 75 years of cooperation, deterrence, and defense from another World War, the media obsessed over his every misstep.

But little attention was paid to Trump’s meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who transformed a democratic country into an autocracy by cracking down on the rule of law, fair elections, the rights of minority groups, and the media.

Indeed, Orbán’s playbook is the blueprint for Project 2025, the 925-page authoritarian plan created by Trump supporters that calls for further restrictions on abortion rights, mass deportations, slashing climate change policies, replacing nonpartisan civil service workers with MAGA loyalists, elimination of the U.S. Education Department, cutting low-income programs, giving the president control of the U.S. Justice Department to investigate enemies, cutting LGBTQ health programs, and infusing Christian nationalism into a broad range of government policies, including a ban on pornography and promoting traditional families.

That’s in addition to Trump’s plans to cut Social Security and Medicare, repeal Obamacare, and extend the tax cuts for the rich.

Most Americans know little about Trump’s plans, but they can’t avoid the nonstop coverage of Biden’s terrible debate performance.

After the debate, many supporters called on Biden to meet with voters, sit for interviews, and hold news conferences to show he is up to the rigors of the job.

In the three weeks since the debate, the president has traveled to eight states for campaign rallies, fundraisers, and other events. He sat for an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos and held a news conference.

Biden delivered a fiery speech at a rally in Michigan on Friday night where he described Trump as a business fraudster and rapist who is “a threat to this nation.” Supporters chanted, “Don’t you quit.”

But none of that has been enough to slow the calls for Biden to step aside.

Meanwhile, Trump disappeared for days, holed up at his gilded MAGA resort. Imagine the freak-out if Biden dropped out of public view and just spewed hate on social media.

When Trump finally emerged for a rally at one of his golf clubs, his rhetoric reminded clear-eyed observers that he is not well. He rambled and lied, claiming Biden “got three or four facelifts” and “doesn’t know what a synagogue is.”

None of Trump’s bizarro claims register as breaking news, and no one demands he take a cognitive test.

Trump went off on a rant about Chris Christie’s weight, praised the fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter (again), and falsely claimed people get “shot, mugged, raped” every time they visit the Jefferson Memorial or the Washington Monument.

None of Trump’s bizarro claims registered as breaking news, and no one demanded he take a cognitive test.

By contrast, a media meltdown ensued surrounding Biden’s health after the New York Times reported a Parkinson’s expert visited the White House eight times in eight months.

By the time it was disclosed that Biden only saw a neurologist during his annual physicals, and the Parkinson’s expert was there to see other patients, the damage was done. A Vox health reporter even took to X to claim Biden had Parkinson’s based on the fact that her mother had the disease. Somewhere, Maxwell Scott could be heard saying, “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

Yes, Biden introducing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin” and referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump” caused many to wince.

And serious questions remain as to whether Biden is up for the rigors of the job over the next four years. But the breathless coverage of Biden’s aging pales in comparison to Trump’s more serious cognitive concerns and danger to democracy.

More to the point, the calls for Biden to step aside ignore the obvious: Then what?

There is no simple plan to replace Biden. It would likely cause chaos within the Democratic Party as competing factions push their preferred candidate.

The potential replacements are untested. Even if the party rallied around Vice President Kamala Harris, there is no guarantee she would win. Some polls give her a slight edge, but that’s before the GOP, Fox News, et al., rev up the racist and misogynist attack machine.

The problem for Biden is that he is not getting any younger. Any slipup will be magnified. Sticking with Biden poses risks. So does replacing him.

But neither option is anywhere near as perilous as a second Trump presidency.