The American president wants to force the Democrats to run again with all his might. He is putting the well-being of the country ahead of his own and forcing the citizens to make an impossible choice.
Joe Biden loves this show. Whenever he can, the US President watches “Morning Joe”, the American breakfast television show on the news channel MSNBC. Biden even regularly exchanges private conversations with presenter Joe Scarborough. The two are said to have a friendly relationship.
On Monday, Biden didn’t just want to sit in front of the television station, but wanted to help shape the program himself. He called into the show to explain to viewers that he was not withdrawing his presidential candidacy. “I am convinced that the average voter still wants Joe Biden.” He didn’t care what the party elites wanted. “I’m so frustrated with the elites,” the president said, audibly upset.
Shortly before, the president had written a letter to the Democratic members of Congress. “I am determined to stay in the race until the end and beat Donald Trump,” it said.
Biden wants to end the debate about him with one decisive word. But it will not end, at least not for now.
The fact that the 81-year-old wrote an open letter and then angrily called breakfast television shows above all that his nerves are frayed. Nine members of Congress are now openly calling for his resignation, and behind the scenes there are said to be many more.
72 percent of Americans think Biden is no longer mentally fit enough
Joe Biden wants the party to rally behind him. This is a tradition in American parties after long and tough primaries. When Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton fought each other hard for months in 2008, she put herself at the service of the party after his victory.
But the situation is different in 2024. Until two weeks ago, Joe Biden was the undisputed head of the party; in the primaries, he only faced competition from no-name candidates who were branded as traitors. With the TV debate, Biden confirmed reservations about him that the population has long had – that he is simply too old for the office of US president. According to a survey, 72 percent of Americans say they no longer believe Biden is cognitively and mentally capable of leading the country.
Biden is now presenting citizens with an impossible choice: either vote for a convicted criminal who wants to make the United States less free and more autocratic, or vote for the oldest US president of all time, even though he cannot allay health concerns about him.
Now you occasionally read that the current development is a tragedy. But a tragic hero is usually caught in a hopeless situation. That is not the case here, there is a way out: retire. Four years ago, Biden said he was the “bridge” for a “new generation”. He did not promise at the time that he would step down after one term. But a bridge that you have to walk over for eight years? Come on, Joe!
Joe Biden cannot break the Trump trend
With his stubbornness, Biden is in danger of squandering what he has achieved over the past three and a half years. It was he who defeated Donald Trump in 2020 and got the country back on track after months and years of chaos. He has stabilized America and repositioned it internationally as a reliable partner. Reason instead of arbitrariness – that is what Biden has always stood for.
Four years ago, Biden was about ten points ahead of Trump in the polls. Now he is six points behind – and it is not clear how the president intends to reverse this trend, which has been going on for months. He is now fighting not only against Trump, but also against parts of his own party. First Joe Biden, then the country – that is the motto at the moment. The president is thus in danger of sinning against the country he swore to protect and which he has served for over half a century.
Yes, Donald Trump is indeed a threat to democracy. And no, it is by no means certain that another candidate would defeat Donald Trump. For the Democrats, it is now just a matter of the lesser of two evils. Whoever would replace Biden as candidate – he or she would not have much time, less than four months, to run a convincing campaign. That is a risk. Going into the hot phase of the election campaign with Joe Biden, a physically and politically weakened incumbent, would be the greater risk.
