Why Biden May Not Be Willing to Quit, Psychologist Says

Organizational psychologist Adam Grant recently explained why President Joe Biden may not be willing to drop out of the 2024 presidential race.

After Biden’s dismal debate performance against Trump in Atlanta last week, there have been calls for Biden to stop running for reelection and for another Democrat to take his place before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in late August. However, Biden’s campaign pledged that the president would not drop out.

Grant, a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, wrote in an article published on Wednesday, titled, “There’s a Name for the Trap Biden Faces,” that Biden is suffering from “escalation of commitment to a losing course of action.”

“In the face of impending failure, extensive evidence shows that instead of rethinking our plans, we often double down on our decisions,” Grant explains.

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

Grant listed a few conditions that make this scenario even more likely, citing research by organizational psychologist Barry Staw: “When people are directly responsible for and publicly attached to a decision, when it has been a long journey and the end is in sight, and when they have reasons to be confident that they can succeed.”

“It’s striking that President Biden’s current situation checks all those boxes,” Grant continued. “He announced his re-election bid to the world back in April 2023. He’s poured 14 months of energy into his campaign and has only four more to go. And he’s beaten the odds before: Many voters told pollsters he was too old before the 2020 election, and in hindsight it’s unlikely that any other Democratic candidate would have won.”

Grant suggested that people with an impartial judgment who will put the country’s interests above Biden’s, sit down with the president, and tell him, “‘I admire your ability to build bridges across the aisle. That shows a willingness to have tough conversations, and you certainly have a tough choice in front of you. What advice would you give to others facing this dilemma?

“You obviously have a long list of reasons to stay in the race—what would be your top three reasons to walk away? What information would convince you that it would be best not to run?”

Grant added that Biden should be asked to think about the possibility that he does lose the election.

“I hope [Biden] has the humility and integrity to take [these questions] seriously, no matter how uncomfortable it might be,” Grant said.

Meanwhile, The New York Times editorial board recently called for Biden to drop out of the race.

Biden has said that he has the best chance of defeating Trump because he did it in 2020. However, The Times‘ editorial board wrote in an article published last Friday, titled, “To Serve His Country, President Biden Should Leave the Race,” that voters “cannot be expected to ignore what was instead plain to see: Mr. Biden is not the man he was four years ago.” The article added that Biden appeared “as the shadow of a great public servant,” on the debate stage.

Meanwhile, CBS News/YouGov poll conducted from June 28 to 29 found that 54 percent of 382 registered Democratic voters think Biden should be running for president again, while 46 percent believed he should not. Meanwhile, 95 percent of 175 registered Democrats said Biden’s age was a reason that he should not run for reelection, while 5 percent said it was not.

It is unclear what the margin of error for the subgroup of registered Democrats is, but the full poll sample, which is 1,130 registered voters, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.