joe biden can beat trump

by stepping down.

As a lover of democracy and women’s bodily autonomy, I’m miffed to admit it, but yesterday may signal the end for Joe Biden.

If you’re not caught up, the special council released a damning report that casts serious doubt on President’s Biden’s memory and cognitive function. While the report exonerated him from criminal charges for the mishandling of classified materials, it’s partly because the Special Counsel Robert Hur concluded that Biden was just a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." Those eight simple words may have just nailed the coffin in his potential reelection campaign.

Some critics are saying that this was nothing but a partisan hit job and that this is just Biden’s “but her emails” moment, but it’s hard not to wince at the details of the report. According to the Special Counsel, Biden couldn’t recall what years he served as Vice-President, or when his son Beau died. To make matters worse, when the administration held a press conference to prove Biden’s memory is just fine, the president confused the President of Egypt with the President of Mexico. And this snafu comes after a series of other dumfounding incidents that point to a glaring issue.

But instead of going full doom and gloom (you can look to the mainstream media for that take) I’m going to explain how Biden could turn the worst day of his presidency into his best one.

If the president wants to prevent a catastrophic second term for Trump, he could graciously step down like Lyndon Johnson honorably did in 1968, and let Democratic candidates bat it out at the Democratic Convention. He could create space for a new candidate to enter the race and effectively solidify his legacy as the man who saved American democracy.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

While there’s a valid concern about a lack of viable candidates to replace Biden and questions about the logistical possibility of someone entering the race nine months before the election, bowing out early could also solve some problems.

Let me list a few.

For starters, it means that Democrats can go after Trump for his biggest weakness (you know aside from the 91 convictions), which is his own cognitive abilities and age. Trump is old, but Biden is older. With Biden in the race, Trump’s unfitness for office isn’t a strong argument and simply draws more attention to Biden’s declining state. Trump has had equally (if not worse) cognitive episodes like forgetting which city he’s in, and forgetting what year his presidency ended. The fact that the two candidates that are running for president remember less about their own time in office than the people who are expected to vote for them, isn’t just unacceptable, it’s disqualifying. The more Democrats back someone who appears unfit, the less they have standing when trying to highlight Trump’s.

The fact that the two candidates that are running for president remember less about their own time in office than the people who are expected to vote for them, is not just unacceptable, it’s disqualifying.

Biden being a one-term president could also solves the biggest threat to democracy: political apathy. In order for Trump to lose, Democrats have to show up in droves. And yet, it’s hard to find a progressive who’s genuinely excited about voting for Biden. In fact, two out of three Democrats do not even want him as their nominee. Data on young voters is even more distressing with half of people under 29 declaring that they won’t even vote because of their dissatisfaction with Biden, citing his handling of Gaza. The political dissatisfaction is even more pronounced amongst young Black voters.

Muslim and Arab American voters also pose a huge obstacle for the president, who’s been making outreach to a community who won’t even agree to meet with him. Biden failing to call for a ceasefire during one of the worst humanitarian crises in history, has angered a contingency of voters in the very swing states (Michigan, Arizona, Georgia) that he can’t afford to lose. If Biden wasn’t seeking reelection, maybe he’d use his last year in office to be a bit more unconventional and brave on this issue. It would also allow a new candidate to enter the race whose public perception isn’t tainted with the mass-killing of more than 27000 Palestinians (most of them women and children) reigniting voters who have abandoned the party because of it.

Allowing a new candidate to emerge could be urgent given that the stakes have never been higher. This is no regular election. This isn’t 2016 or even 2020, when Trump was being credibly accused of crimes. He’s a proven abuser, who is facing so many criminal charges that the presidency could be his only get out jail card. He’s a pathological liar with serious empathic impairment, who regularly engages in psychopathic behavior like resisting the peaceful transfer of power or using his office for revenge and retribution. He still hasn’t conceded to his election loss despite being charged with exploiting it to wage a criminal conspiracy to overthrow the government. If he somehow slithers his way back into office, it’s extremely plausible that he would never leave.

Beyond his immeasurable threat to civil society, he’s also a well-documented anti-semitic, racist, islamophobic and a misogynistic predator.

Trump isn’t just a danger to American democracy—he’s a threat to the world. Radical anti-democratic forces are solidifying their grip in countries like China and Russia, and a destabilizing force like a second Trump presidency would have dramatic and irreversible consequences on an already fragile world. By paving the way for a better candidate, Biden wouldn’t just be demonstrating leadership and strength on a national level, but on a global one too.

The world is shaky. That’s why our choices for president can’t afford to be. Biden has an opportunity to make his mark on history. Opening up the field may have risks— but so does staying in it.

What do you think? Should Biden seek re-election or make room for a candidate that could beat Trump? Both are unpredictable, but which one feels better to you? Tell me what you think in the comments.

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x Liz