‘The Democrats Need To Find A New Nominee’: Talk of Replacing Biden Blasts into the Open
Debate performance reignites calls for the president to step aside
Not only has President Biden’s halting and disappointing performance in Thursday’s first presidential debate failed to quell worries about his advanced age, it’s sparked open, renewed calls for him to be replaced at the top of the Democratic ticket this fall.
Biden often spoke weakly and appeared confused during his 90-minute face-off against Republican Donald Trump, doing nothing to quiet concerns that — at age 81 — Biden isn’t up to the job.
Indeed, the hosts on the MSNBC news network had an extraordinary discussion about the mechanics of replacing Biden as the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee ahead of Election Day.
Biden’s closest friends and advisors are “going to have to have a heart-to-heart with the president about his ability to exude strength,” said former Democratic senator Claire McCaskill, who has been a Biden ally.
Mehdi Hasan, the journalist and commentator at MSNBC before leaving to establish his own media company, Zeteo, was even more direct in a post on social media.
“I have spent months, both on MSNBC and at Zeteo, refusing to obsess over Biden’s age and fitness for office. But no longer. Not after tonight’s car crash of a ‘debate,’” he wrote. “It’s time for Biden to step aside. The Democrats need to find a new nominee.”
Hasan was not alone.
Indeed, his former colleagues at MSNBC had an extraordinary on-camera discussion about exactly how Democrats would go about replacing Biden as their nominee.
“I mean, I spoke to an election lawyer. It is legal, and the way it happens is Joe Biden releases his delegates ahead of that convention. And you can’t do it on the first vote, but I think on the second vote they can go somewhere else. So, it is legal. It is possible,” said MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace, who once worked on Republican John McCain’s presidential run. “And I think when people say it won’t happen is because they think Joe Biden would never do it, for the reasons Joy already articulated. He’s the only person who beat Trump and he believes, and he has some reason to believe this, that he’s the only one who can.”
The morning after the debate, even MSNBC host Joe Scarborough — who has been one of Biden’s most ardent defenders — raised the potential for the president to step aside.
“This is a battle for the future of American democracy. And now is a good time. In June, thank God, in June, not October, in June, this is the last chance for Democrats to decide whether this man we’ve known and loved for a very long time is up to the task of running for the president of the United States,” he said.
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