‘Time to Go Joe’: Liberal Columnists Turn On Biden After Debate Disaster

Liberal columnists turned on President Joe Biden on Friday after his dismal debate performance against former President Donald Trump last night.

On Thursday evening, the two presumptive presidential nominees took the CNN debate stage in Atlanta. While Trump lied and dogged many questions, Biden was the one who made headlines for his lackluster performance. He incoherently answered questions and failed to bring the youthful and energic performance Democrats hoped for. A Biden aide, meanwhile, told Newsweek late Thursday night that the president was battling a cold during the debate.

Mark Leibovich, a columnist at the liberal magazine The Atlantic, called the debate a “disaster” in an article published on Friday titled, “Time to Go, Joe.”

“It was clear from the outset that Biden looked old, sounded old, and yes, is in fact very, very old,” Leibovich wrote. “Biden needs to step aside, for the sake of his own dignity, for the good of his party, for the future of the country. This debacle of a debate was a low-point. It needs to be a turning point.”

Leibovich suggested that Biden drop out of the race so that the Democratic party could find a replacement before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in late August.

Newsweek reached out to Biden’s campaign via email for comment.

The New York Times‘ Thomas L. Friedman, whose work is considered left-leaning, echoed Leibovich in a piece published on Friday titled “Joe Biden Is a Good Man and a Good President. He Must Bow Out of the Race.”

Friedman wrote that he began to weep when watching the debate because it revealed that “Joe Biden, a good man and a good president, has no business running for re-election. And Donald Trump, a malicious man and a petty president, has learned nothing and forgotten nothing.”

Biden needs to release all of his delegates for the Democratic National Convention, Friedman wrote, so that a new candidate can be picked for the nomination.

“If there was ever a time that the world needed an America at its best, led by its best, it is now—for great dangers and opportunities are now upon us,” Friedman wrote. “A younger Biden could have been that leader, but time has finally caught up with him. And that was painfully and inescapably obvious on Thursday.”

On an episode of his New York Times podcast, The Ezra Klein Show, titled, After That Debate, the Risk of Biden Is Clear, posted on Friday, Ezra Klein said Biden “did not look up to the job” of being president during the debate.

Klein, a liberal opinion journalist, questioned if the Democrats should pick someone else to run for president. “It is not a safe route. It is risky. It could blow up in everybody’s face. But at this point, the Joe Biden plan is blowing up in everybody’s face,” he said.

Meanwhile, Frank Bruni, whose work is considered left-leaning, talked about his experience watching the debate in his New York Times article, titled, “Biden Cannot Go On Like This”, published on Friday.

“Ten minutes in, I had a knot in my stomach. Twenty minutes in, the knot was so tight, it hurt,” Bruni wrote. “He got somewhat clearer as the night wore on. He found more animation. But the damage was done, and it may be significant.”

Bruni added: “For most of the mere 90 minutes of the debate, Biden seemed to be grasping for something he couldn’t reach. I fear that’s a metaphor. I’m sure it’s a warning.”

Biden’s North Carolina rally speech on Friday was in stark contrast to last night’s debate, with people on social media acknowledging his stellar performance.

“Biden speaking at a rally in NC right now. He’s animated, coherent, furious. Where was this guy last night?” Catherine Rampell, op-ed columnist at the Washington Post, wrote on Friday.

Susan Glasser, a writer for the New Yorker, wrote: “Biden giving a strong rally performance directly addressing his debate fail. Everything he wasn’t last night. Sharp, passionate, clear on the threat from Trump. Is it enough to quell the fears of his party?”