The crude cover with which The Economist asks Joe Biden to withdraw his candidacy for the US presidency: ‘It will project decrepitude’

In line with other influential American media, The renowned British magazine The Economist called on US President Joe Biden in a scathing cover story on Thursday to abandon his re-election campaign, while urging members of the Democratic Party to “look in the mirror” and put aside “their ambition” in order to find another candidate to challenge former President Donald Trump in the November elections, an election in which otherwise Americans will choose “between the incapable and the ineffable.”

In his article entitled “There is no way to govern a country: Why Biden must step down?”, whose Cover image is a walker with the coat of arms of the United States presidency, The magazine said the president’s performance in last Thursday’s debate was “terrible” as it showed “a confused old man struggling to remember words and actions.” Still, it said “the cover-up has been worse.”

“His campaign’s operation to deny what tens of millions of Americans saw with their own eyes is more toxic (…) because his dishonesty provokes contempt,” the British magazine concluded.

The magazine had already argued in a piece published in 2022 that Biden should not run for a second term as an act of “his faith in democracy.”

To achieve the political renewal that America so clearly needs now, they must call for change. It is not too late.

For The Economist, the election already has a clear winner and it is Donald Trump, a candidate who would even win in states that were previously safe for the Democrats, like Virginia, Minnesota and New Mexico, according to new surveys cited in the article.

The immediate effect of last Thursday’s debate was a series of calls from high-ranking Democrats – including members of Congress and major party donors – for Biden to withdraw from the nomination, something the magazine considers “fair”, although it argues that “It is urgent that more of them face the fact that if they do not speak out now, Trump will win.”

“To achieve the political renewal that the United States so clearly needs now, they must demand change. It is not too late,” he said.

The Economist: ‘(Biden) deserves to be remembered for his achievements and his decency, rather than his decadence’

President Biden, 81, a president who “deserves to be remembered for his achievements and his decency, rather than his decadence,” He is not fit to be president, in principle, “because of his mental deterioration,” said The Economist, which indicated however that his main opponent Donald Trump is not fit either.

“But you can’t run a superpower by a textbook, and you can’t call off an international crisis because the president is having a bad night,” he said. “Should nuclear coding be entrusted to someone who can’t finish a sentence about Medicare?”

The magazine goes on to strongly criticize the Democratic Party, made up of senators and congressmen who “have put their ambition before their country.”

Convinced that they could outlast Trump, or that someone else would pay the price for ousting him, senators and congressmen have put their ambition ahead of their country.

“Democrats mock the Republican Party for its cowardly behavior toward Trump. Once again, they are right. Too many Republicans have parroted his falsehoods and lacked the moral courage to call out his abuses. Convinced that they could outlast Trump, or that someone else would pay the price for ousting him, senators and congressmen have put their ambition ahead of their country,” he said. “The Democratic Party should look in the mirror, starting with Biden himself.”

On Wednesday, The president attributed his poor performance in the presidential debate to the fatigue accumulated from the international trips he had made in the weeks prior to the confrontation with Trump.Meanwhile, Democratic officials and members of his family, such as Jill Biden, tried to clean up his image by saying that those 90 minutes should not define his four years in government, in a show of loyalty to the president.

“But what matters is whether (the debate is) a harbinger of the next four (years). Senior Democrats who repeat these desperate arguments or wait silently for someone else to speak first may think they are being loyal. Is that loyalty to their country or to their careers? The Economist asked.

“Democrats might say their tactics are pure politics. Their horrific means are justified by their honorable ends of saving American democracy from Trump’s depredations. Such a defense does America no favors. The tactic of covering up one’s own flaws by demonizing one’s opponent has long marred American politics, but using the threat of Trump as a ‘dictator’ to compensate for Biden’s obvious weakness is a form of blackmail,” he continued.

In representing the United States abroad, Biden will project decrepitude, to the delight of China and Russia and the dismay of America’s allies.

The article then went on to highlight the importance to the world of an American head of state who “embodies the virtues of the republic.” It went on to say: “In representing the United States abroad, Biden will project decrepitude, to the delight of China and Russia and the dismay of America’s allies.”

The Economist concluded that “Biden should withdraw from the campaign” so that the election can renew his political body with other candidates who have a better chance “of defeating Trump,” like Vice President Kamala Harris, and thus save a country that demonstrates a clear “failure of the party system.”

“The virtue of democracy is that voters can choose their leaders, but Biden and Trump offer the choice between the incapable and the unspeakable. Americans deserve better,” he said.

THE NATION (ARGENTINA)/ GDA