Joe Biden Must Stay in the Race

I fixed The New York Times’ editorial to reflect what they should have printed.

Following is an edited version of an editorial from The New York Times:

President Biden has repeatedly and rightfully described the stakes in this November’s presidential election as nothing less than the future of American democracy.

Donald Trump has proved himself to be a significant jeopardy to that democracy — an erratic and self-interested figure unworthy of the public trust. He systematically attempted to undermine the integrity of elections. His supporters have described, publicly, a 2025 agenda that would give him the power to carry out the most extreme of his promises and threats. If he is returned to office, he has vowed to be a different kind of president, unrestrained by the checks on power built into the American political system.

Mr. Biden is the candidate with the best chance of taking on this threat of tyranny and defeating it. Mr. Biden should be the Democratic nominee this year.

At Thursday’s debate, Mr. Trump needed to convince the American public that he was equal to the formidable demands of the office he is seeking to hold again. Voters, however, cannot be expected to ignore what was instead plain to see: Mr. Trump is the same man he was four years ago and more unfit than ever to be president.

The former president and convicted felon appeared on Thursday night as the antithesis of a great public servant. He relentlessly attacked the most accomplished president in a generation and failed to explain what he would accomplish in a return to the White House. Yet CNN debate moderators struggled to respond to Mr. Trump’s provocations. They struggled to hold Mr. Trump accountable for his lies, his failures and his chilling plans. 

While some voters may not like how President Biden speaks, he speaks the truth. In terms of the president’s age, he correctly stated Donald Trump is only "three years younger and a lot less competent.” While Mr. Biden is 81 years old, Mr. Trump is a 78-year old twice-impeached 91-count indicted felon.

Mr. Biden has been an admirable president. Under his leadership, the nation has prospered and begun to address a range of long-term challenges, and the wounds ripped open by Mr. Trump have begun to heal. The greatest public service Mr. Biden can now perform is to reject the half-baked opinions of ivory tower editorial boards and continue to run for re-election.

Even if there were Democratic leaders better equipped to present clear, compelling and energetic alternatives to a second Trump presidency, none has the stellar presidential record of Joe Biden. There is no reason for the party to risk the stability and security of the country by throwing the Democratic nominating contest into chaos. 

The race will come down to a choice between Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden. Even were it not for Mr. Biden’s effective leadership of our country, voters should still choose him because of how much of a danger Mr. Trump poses. Calls for a new Democratic nominee this late in a campaign make a mockery of the scale and seriousness of Mr. Trump’s challenge to the values and institutions of this country.

Ending his candidacy would be against all of Mr. Biden’s personal and political instincts as well as the good of the Democratic Party and the country. He has picked himself up from tragedies and setbacks in the past and can clearly do so again. Thursday’s debate was one data point compared with three years of accomplishments. 

It is a tragedy that Republicans themselves are not engaged in deeper soul-searching after Thursday’s debate. Mr. Trump’s own performance ought to be regarded as disqualifying. He lied brazenly and repeatedly about his own actions, his record as president and his opponent. He described plans that would harm the American economy, undermine civil liberties and fray America’s relationships with other nations. He refused to promise that he would accept defeat, returning instead to the kind of rhetoric that incited the Jan. 6 attack on Congress.

While Mr. Biden is not a perfect candidate, the clearest path for Democrats to lose the election and the clearest path for our country to fall to a convicted felon and wannabe authoritarian is for the Democratic Party to scramble for another candidate. Mr. Biden must remain on the ballot.

This is the best chance to protect the soul of the nation — the cause that drew Mr. Biden to run for the presidency in 2019 and the cause that shaped his laudable presidency — from the malign warping of Mr. Trump. Mr. Biden has nobly served our country and must continue to do so by remaining on the November 5 ballot.