NY Times columnist who supported Biden in 2020 encourages him to drop out of race: 'Sleepwalking to defeat'
NYT columnist Stephens pointed to Gov. Shapiro or Gov. Whitmer to succeed Biden
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New York Times columnist Bret Stephens advised President Biden to drop out of the race and give an opportunity for a younger Democratic leader to emerge and beat former President Trump in the November election.
"Biden is sleepwalking to defeat against a felonious adversary who three years ago incited violence to overturn an election," Stephens wrote in an op-ed from Tuesday headlined, "The most courageous thing that Joe Biden can do."
"It all leaves the president with one option that can be a win for America and, ultimately, his place in history," Stephens wrote. "He can still choose not to run, to cede the field to a Democrat who can win — paging Josh Shapiro or Gretchen Whitmer — and do the hard and brave things it will take to secure security and peace for the free world."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New York Times columnist Bret Stephens told President Biden that he should drop out of the race, opening up an opportunity for a younger Democratic leader to emerge and beat former President Trump in the upcoming election. (Getty Images)
"There’s still time, if only just," Stephens, who supported Biden in 2020, wrote of the rapidly closing window that the president has to drop out of the race. "It would be a courageous, honorable and transformative legacy."
Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro and Michigan Gov. Whitmer — both the leaders of major swing states likely to help decide the 2024 election — are rising stars within the Democratic Party.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Shapiro and Whitmer are 50 and 52 years old, respectively, while Biden is 81 years old.
Stephens argued that Biden's unpopularity with voters, with "the lowest approval rating of his time in office," puts him in serious need of "some wins — real, not cosmetic, ones."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Stephens also gave Biden advice on how to "secure" his legacy with voters on the international policy front, especially in Ukraine and Israel. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Stephens also gave Biden advice on how to "secure" his legacy with voters on the international policy front, especially in Ukraine and Israel.
"The more Biden does to ‘Trump-proof’ U.S. support for Ukraine against the risk of losing in November, the more secure his legacy will be," the columnist wrote, suggesting that Biden send "U.S.-made cruise missiles" to aid the war effort against Russia.
In the Middle East, Stephens argued that a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war would not be a "real" win for Biden, suggesting instead that a "deal with Saudi Arabia" to recognize Israel and establish an "Arab security force in Gaza" would be far more substantial of a foreign policy achievement.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Election data guru and founder of "FiveThirtyEight" Nate Silver also responded to Biden’s latest poll numbers. Silver said that Biden's approval ratings dipping to 37.4%, might be enough cause for the Democratic front-runner to drop out of the 2024 presidential election.
"Dropping out would be a big risk," Silver wrote in an X post on Monday.
He claimed that Democrats would have been given a fighting chance if Biden had eliminated himself from the upcoming election earlier.
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The Biden campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News' Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi contributed to this report.