New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman said watching his friend President Biden’s disastrous debate performance made him “weep” — and urged the commander-in-chief to put the nation’s interests first by not seeking re-election.
In an op-ed titled, “President Biden Is My Friend. He Must Bow Out of the Race,” Friedman wrote that he “cannot remember a more heartbreaking moment in American presidential campaign politics in my lifetime.”
“I watched the Biden-Trump debate alone … and it made me weep,” Friedman wrote.
“Joe Biden, a good man and a good president, has no business running for re-election.”
He added that Biden’s “family and political team must gather quickly and have the hardest of conversations with the president.”
The president’s poor performance at the debate in which he stumbled, froze, and stared blankly, has prompted anguish and alarm in the Democratic Party, fewer than four months before the general election.
Friedman highlighted what he described as Biden’s integrity and accomplishments but also emphasized the need for a new leader who could better tackle the challenges of the 21st century.
“If he caps his presidency now, by acknowledging that because of age he is not up to a second term, his first and only term will be remembered as among the better presidencies in our history,” he claimed.
The debate was widely seen as a make-or-break moment for Biden amid voter concern about his mental fitness — concerns that grew more acute Thursday night.
Friedman argued that a new Democratic candidate was necessary for the party to have any chance of beating Trump.
“The Biden family and political team must gather quickly and have the hardest of conversations with the president, a conversation of love and clarity and resolve,” he continued.