Prominent Biden loyalists suggest he should step down

President Joe Biden floundered throughout the debate, causing many to question whether he can continue his campaign.

For months, Democrats have rallied behind President Joe Biden, insisting that in private moments he’s energetic and up for the job. But after the president’s abysmal performance last night, some are changing their tune — and the new melody is somber.

Here’s what some of Biden’s once loyal defenders are saying about the president now, with some even begging him to end his campaign before the Democratic National Convention in August.

David Axelrod

David Axelrod, who was a staffer in the Obama administration, said the GOP would be in trouble if another Democrat replaced Biden as the nominee.

A titan of the Obama administration, David Axelrod sounded the alarm during a panel discussion on CNN directly following the debate.

“I think there was a sense of shock, actually, on how he came out at the beginning of this debate,” he said. “How his voice sounded — he seemed a little disoriented at the beginning of the debate. He did get stronger as the debate went on, but by that time, I think the panic had set in.”

He confronted the question on nearly every Democrat’s mind: whether Biden should drop out of the race. While sparring with Republican strategists on the panel, Axelrod said that the GOP would be in serious “trouble” were the Democratic ticket to change.

The ‘Pod’ guys

Though typically loyal to Biden, the hosts of the hugely popular podcast “Pod Save America” are saying that Biden should, at the very least, consider stepping aside.

While the former Obama aides who host “Pod Save America” typically support the president, they expressed deep concern about his ability to continue campaigning after last night.

“Obviously that debate was a fucking disaster,” Jon Favreau posted Friday morning on X. “And since we haven’t had the convention yet, it would be absurd if Democrats didn’t at least have a serious discussion about whether Joe Biden — who’s a wonderful human being and has been a great president — is up for the job.”

In a blog post, Dan Pfeiffer lamented Biden’s failure to assuage voters’ concerns about his age, saying that he instead “exacerbated them.”

Another host, Tommy Vietor, did not mince words Friday morning, writing on X that telling notoriously panicked Democrats to temper their concerns was “fucking insulting to people who care deeply about the country.”

Claire McCaskill

Claire McCaskill, a former senator and current political commentator, said that her phone exploded during the debate, with elected Democrats expressing grave concerns.

Claire McCaskill, a former senator turned political analyst, said on MSNBC that her heart broke while watching the debate. Though she said that clarity about a path forward could come only with time and new polling, she expressed grave concern.

“Joe Biden had one thing he had to do tonight, and he didn’t do it,” McCaskill said. “He had one thing he had to accomplish, and that was reassure America that he was up for the job at his age. And he failed at that tonight.”

McCaskill added that elected officials were pinging her phone throughout the debate, throwing around words like “crisis.” She also said that Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California projected a vitality and assuredness that may leave some questioning why their names aren’t at the top of the ticket.

Thomas Friedman

Thomas Friedman, a journalist and close friend of Biden, admitted in an opinion piece that the president should step aside, once and for all. 

By his own admission, Thomas Friedman, Biden’s close friend and a New York Times opinion columnist, wept in his hotel room during last night’s debate. In an article published Friday morning, he called on the president to step aside and let someone else run in his stead.

“Joe Biden, a good man and a good president, has no business running for re-election,” Friedman wrote. Dropping out would, he argued, save Biden’s legacy and give Americans the greatest chance of keeping former President Donald Trump out of office come November. He added that while Harris should run if so inclined, voters deserved to choose a nominee from a wide variety of options.

“I had been ready to give Biden the benefit of the doubt up to now, because during the times I engaged with him one-on-one, I found him up to the job,” Friedman said. “He clearly is not any longer.”

Van Jones

Speaking on CNN after the debate, Van Jones said he felt personal pain while watching Biden’s performance.

Van Jones, a political analyst and former Obama advisor, called Biden’s performance “painful” to watch.

“I just want to speak from my heart,” he said Thursday night on CNN. “I love that guy. That’s a good man — he loves his country, he’s doing the best that he can, but he had a test to meet tonight to restore confidence of the country and of the base, and he failed to do that.”

Many people, Jones added, will want the president to consider stepping aside given that the Democratic National Convention is not until August. The question is whether Biden “will allow us to do that,” he said.

Joy Reid

In her comments on MSNBC, Joy Reid said that Biden failed to tamp down concerns about his age.

Joy Reid, a national correspondent on MSNBC, said that she spent the 90-minute debate on the phone with Obama-era aides, Democratic operatives, and campaign officials. Their overall reaction? Panic.

Biden’s primary job was to settle Democrats and their well-documented tendency to freak out.

“He did the opposite of that,” she said.

Ben Rhodes

Ben Rhodes lamented how the debate made Americans look to leaders abroad.

Characteristically geared toward concerns abroad, Ben Rhodes, who was Obama’s deputy national security advisor, kept it plain and simple on Twitter: “Just think about what that debate looked like to people and leaders around the world.”

Nicholas Kristof

Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times columnist, addressed Biden directly in an opinion piece, calling on him to step down

Nicholas Kristof, a columnist and CNN contributor, chimed in with his own two cents in The New York Times, writing that Biden staying in the race would increase the risk that Trump wins back the presidency.

Kristof implored the president to drop out and leave his successor in the hands of delegates at the Democratic National Convention. He named Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Sen. Sherrod Brown, and Gina Raimondo, the secretary of commerce, as prospective nominees.

“This will be a wrenching choice,” he wrote. “But, Mr. President, one way you can serve your country in 2024 is by announcing your retirement.”

Evan Osnos

Having written extensively about Biden, Evan Osnos said that the man on the debate stage seemed “diminished

Earlier this year, Evan Osnos wrote a considerable profile on Biden; in 2020, he published a sympathetic biography about the president, an excerpt of which he retweeted late Thursday night. When writing the book, Osnos asked Biden how he would respond to those who believe is too old to be president. Biden answered simply, saying he would ask people, “Look at me. Decide.”

Osnos, grappling with that decision himself, said on CNN after the debate that the man Americans saw onstage was a “diminished” version of the man he wrote about four years ago.

Joe Scarborough

The MSNBC host Joe Scarborough.

Even Joe Scarborough, one of the hosts of MSNBC’s hit show “Morning Joe,” widely considered Biden’s go-to morning talk show, bit into the president on Friday. He opened his show by affirming his “love” for Biden but went on to say that the president “missed one layup after another,” even on should-be knockout topics, such as abortion.

“I fear Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States unless things change,” Scarborough said. He joined the scores of Biden’s friends candidly questioning whether Democrats should select a different nominee.