The Atlantic ran a damning article on Thursday stating President Joe Biden should not seek reelection in 2024 because it would be “immediately liberating” for Biden if he were to bow out of 2024 consideration.
Just days after the White House emphatically stated Biden would seek a second term, the Atlantic‘s Mark Leibovich announced opposition to the idea, citing poll numbers, Biden’s age, and political strategy.
“The ‘whispers’ are becoming shouts,” the article said about Biden’s lack of ability to handle the job another term due to his age. “It has become thoroughly exhausting—for Biden and his party and, to some extent, the country itself. But the question quiets considerably when no one’s calculating how old a president born during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration will be in 2028.”
According to polling, a majority of voters believe Biden is unfit to be president and doubt his mental ability. Fifty-three percent of respondents said they had “doubts” about Biden’s mental ability. Sixty-two percent said Biden is not fit to be president because he is too old.
The publication strategized that if Biden decided not to run in 2024 it “would be immediately liberating” for both the Democrat Party and for himself.
“Stepping aside would permit Biden to shed the demands of being a disciplined candidate (never his strong suit),” the article continued. “He could off-load all of the burdens and suspicions that come with electoral ambitions. Nothing buys goodwill for a politician like self-removal from consideration.”
“Biden is by no means the more eloquent character he was in his younger days. It can be painful to watch him give prepared speeches. His tone can be tentative, and certain sentences can become hopscotching journeys. His aides in the room look visibly nervous at times,” the article observed. “Let me put this bluntly: Joe Biden should not run for reelection in 2024. He is too old.”
The Atlantic’s opposition to Biden’s second term comes as other publications have also opposed the idea. Those media outlets include Axios, the New York Times, FiveThirtyEight, and Vanity Fair.
The establishment media’s disinclination toward a 2024 run for Biden may be taking hold within the Democrat Party. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on Sunday refused to say if she would support Biden in 2024.
“So we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” AOC told CNN. “But I think if the president has a vision, then that’s something certainly we’re all willing to entertain and examine when the time comes.”
But some Democrats still support Biden’s second campaign. “I look forward to working hard for Joe Biden’s re-election in 2024,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) told the Hill on Thursday.
Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) said, “He’s going to be the nominee and he’s going to be strong.”
If Biden did step aside, it is unknown who would replace him. There seems to be no consensus on who could take up the mantle against a prospective second run by Donald Trump. On Saturday, the Times issued a warning about Biden’s “capability to take the fight to former President Donald J. Trump a second time.”
Trump has constantly polled better than Biden in potential 2024 matchup surveys. Multiple polls have consistently shown Trump trouncing Biden in a hypothetical head-to-head rematch.
Biden’s approval index has spent about 30 percent of his term below -25, far worse than former President Trump’s, according to Rasmussen Reports.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter and Gettr @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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