The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) is calling for President Biden to step out of the presidential election after his debate debacle on Thursday night.
The AJC Editorial Board is publishing a front page editorial Sunday arguing that Biden should bow out of the election "for the good" of the country and to defeat former President Trump.
"The shade of retirement is now necessary for President Biden," the board wrote.
An Axios report explained that Americans were so shocked by Biden's debate performance because they're more used to seeing a more competent version of him. (Getty Images)
Biden, they argued, failed to convey a "competent and coherent vision for the future of America" at the first presidential debate in Atlanta on Thursday.
"He failed to outline the most fundamental aspects of his platform," they wrote. "He failed to take credit for the significant accomplishments of his 3½ years in office. And he failed to counter the prevarications of an opponent, who, according to CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale, lied 30 times during the course of the debate, approximately once every 90 seconds of his allotted time."
President Biden and former President Trump participate in the first Presidential Debate at CNN Studios in Atlanta, Thursday. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
AJC said that responses by Biden surrogates, former President Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris as well as the cover-up attempt by aides that the president had a cold were "insulting to the American people."
Biden's age and mental acuity was a concern only heightened by Trump's resolve, the newspaper argued.
"President Biden’s ability to withstand the mental and physical rigors of another four-year term would be of concern regardless of his opponent," they wrote. "The fact that he is all that stands in the way of Trump returning to the Oval Office significantly raises the stakes."
President Biden looks on as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections in Atlanta on Thursday. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
The editorial board pointed to Trump's Vice President Mike Pence and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's refusal to support the former president as proof of Trump's "egregious" personal and professional conduct following the 2020 election.
"That Trump remains at the top of the Republican ticket is a testament to the deep divisions and tribalism that has come to define American politics in the 21st century," they wrote.
President Biden stands at a debate podium in Atlanta, Thursday. (Kevin D. Liles for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The board encouraged Biden to pass the torch to the next generation of Democratic leaders at the convention in August.
"If he truly hopes to defeat Trump, he must pass the torch to the next generation of Democratic leaders and urge the party to nominate another candidate at its convention in Chicago in August," they wrote. "Doing this will require a massive and unprecedented string of legal and regulatory actions to get a Biden successor named and placed on each state’s ballot. This is difficult and necessary work that must start immediately."
The right Democratic leader, they argued, would move forward and make a compelling appeal to both Republican and Democratic voters ahead of the election.
"The Democrats have a number of talented and principled leaders who might take the president’s agenda forward and provide the nation with a viable alternative to Trump," they wrote. "The right candidate would make it a priority to appeal to Republican and Democratic voters."
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden leave the debate stage Thursday in Atlanta. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The board said that Biden's very candidacy was "grounded in his incumbency and the belief of Democratic leaders and pollsters that he stood the best chance of defeating Trump in November."
"This is no longer the case," they said.
The Atlanta-based newspaper board said that while this may be difficult for some Democrats to swallow, it is the truth.
"Biden deserves a better exit from public life than the one he endured when he shuffled off the stage Thursday night," they said.
"If he displays the courage and dignity that have defined his political career, he might follow in the footsteps of the nation’s first president and welcome his retirement, secure in the knowledge that he again served his country with honor," the board ended.
People watch the 2024 presidential debate between former President Trump and President Biden in New York City, Thursday. (Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The AJC Editorial Board's call for Biden to step down comes just one day after The New York Times called for him to drop out of the race.
"Mr. Biden has said that he is the candidate with the best chance of taking on this threat of tyranny and defeating it," The Times said. "His argument rests largely on the fact that he beat Mr. Trump in 2020. That is no longer a sufficient rationale for why Mr. Biden should be the Democratic nominee this year."
"Mr. Biden answered an urgent question on Thursday night. It was not the answer that he and his supporters were hoping for," the Times concluded. "But if the risk of a second Trump term is as great as he says it is — and we agree with him that the danger is enormous — then his dedication to this country leaves him and his party only one choice."
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive at a campaign event in Raleigh, N.C., Friday. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Following the debate, Democrats and liberal media figures were reportedly in "panic" after Biden's performance.
The optics led to a full-on meltdown in Democrat-friendly media, with journalists at various outlets reporting on dozens of Democratic Party officials who said the 81-year-old Biden should consider refusing his party's nomination at the Democratic National Convention.
BIDEN'S INNER CIRCLE SILENT AS PARTY REELS FOLLOWING ‘EMBARRASSING’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE
Biden gave no indication he would step down at his first rally following the debate Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina, insisting he is capable of beating Trump.
"I can do this job, because, quite frankly, the stakes are too high," Biden energetically said. "Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation."
President Biden speaks at a post-debate campaign rally Friday in Raleigh, N.C. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)
President Biden also addressed his stumbling performance, saying, "I don’t debate as well as I used to."
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"I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done," he told a roaring crowd that chanted "Four more years."
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Biden campaign for comment.
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