Here are three truths about President Joe Biden. He has done an excellent job as president. He has been absurdly abused; his every verbal or physical misstep has been dissected to a degree that far exceeds any examination of the incoherent torrent of lies and vileness that Donald Trump routinely spews. And he should resign as his party’s nominee for president, likely in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Anyone who has followed American politics must be aware of how extraordinary Biden’s performance has been. For decades, the United States seemed incapable of taking action to secure its future. But Biden, despite an extremely narrow legislative majority, has ordered major investments in infrastructure, advanced technology and green energy.
And all this while it rules the best performing economy in the developed world. Yes, inflation spiked as the global economy recovered from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, but that happened almost everywhere, while Growth in the United States was, as the International Monetary Fund puts it, “extraordinary compared with its peers.” and inflation fell rapidly without causing a recession. The harsh attacks on Biden's economic policies now seem nonsense.
People are speechless at the extent to which he has been denied credit for these achievements. Nearly as many voters credit Trump—whose repeated promises to implement a plan have become a running joke—for infrastructure as Biden, who did the work. Everyone remembers when gas prices (which presidents have little control over) hit $5 a gallon; far fewer noticed that on July 4, we just saw the lowest prices at gas stations in three years.
At the same time, many Americans may not be fully aware of the such a grotesque and threatening image that Trump gives. You have to watch clips of his rallies to realize how incoherent and nonsensical his speeches have become; have you heard his spiel about electric boats and sharks? Until actress Taraji P. Henson spoke about the deeply anti-American Project 2025 when she hosted the 2024 BET Awards, I doubt many people were aware of the plan, whose leader promises a “second American Revolution” that will remain bloodless “if the left lets it.”
Trump has recently attempted to distance himself from the project, declaring that for some reason he knows “nothing” about a plan devised by people very close to his campaign, before declaring that he disagrees with “some of the things they’re saying” — a good ploy, considering he knows nothing about it — and ultimately wishes the plan’s authors luck.
But the point is that the June presidential debate gave Biden a golden opportunity to show the American people who he is and who Trump is, to be calm and reassuring while Trump was ranting. And Biden failed that test resoundingly. The only real hope of salvaging the situation would have been for Biden to get out there as quickly and as often as possible, giving open press conferences and interviews to prove that his bad night was a fluke. For some reason, he didn’t.
What he did instead was give an interview to George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, which did not repair the damage. It doesn’t matter what theater they played, what impression they gave, or whatever. The crucial moment, in my opinion, was when Biden was asked how he would feel if Trump won the election and he replied, “As long as I do the best job I can and the best job I know I can do, that’s what it’s all about.”
No. That's not the point. I have great admiration for Biden, but this is not a game where you get points for giving it your all and being able to feel happy even when it turns out it's not enough.
Because this is an election where the stakes are high. If Trump wins, this could be the last real election the United States has had in a long time—that is, an election in which the party in power allows its opponents to take it away from them. If you think that’s an exaggeration, you haven’t been paying attention after Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election. That’s why this point is about defending democracy.
Perhaps we can learn a lesson from the French. Faced with a threat to their democracy after their country’s far-right came first in the first round of parliamentary elections, many French politicians withdrew from the second round, putting the country’s interests ahead of their ambitions to boost their rivals’ chances of defeating anti-democratic opponents. And partly as a result, on Sunday, The French far right suffered a surprising and unexpected defeat.
Do we know whether Biden could achieve the same for the United States if he were to step aside now? Of course not. We do know that if Harris were to replace him—it’s hard to see a plausible alternative at this point—he would face his own wave of vilification and innuendo. But she’s smart and tough, and the ugliness of the predictable attacks on her gender and race could have the opposite effect of the desired effect. In any case, it’s clear that Biden has already been damaged, and if he insists on running, it seems all too likely that he, and possibly the future of our democracy, will lose. I have no doubt that the president is a good man who loves his country. And as such, I hope he does the right thing and steps aside.
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