The New York Times has published an opinion piece from two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Nicholas Kristof calling for President Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race.
The op-ed, "President Biden, I’ve Seen Enough," was published after Thursday night's debate — but the URL indicates that it was, at least partially, pre-written and loaded up on June 25.
The Gray Lady having an article ready to go calling for the president to step aside may lend some credibility to theories that there is a concerted effort to replace Biden as the nominee.
The New York Times article began, "President Biden is a good man who capped a long career in public service with a successful presidential term. But I hope he reviews his debate performance Thursday evening and withdraws from the race, throwing the choice of a Democratic nominee to the convention in August."
Kristof continued, "After the debate, it’s hard to avoid the feeling that Biden remaining in the race increases the likelihood that Trump will move into the White House in January."
The writer admitted that while it may be unfair, Biden's age and mannerisms highlight his old age and will turn off voters.
"Biden can resolve this by withdrawing from the race," Kristof wrote. "There isn’t time to hold new primaries, but he could throw the choice of a successor to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The Democratic Party has some prominent figures who I think would be in a good position to defeat Trump in November, among them Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Gina Raimondo, the secretary of commerce. And there are many others."
The article concluded:My phone has been blowing up with texts from people saying, as one put it: “Dear God. What are we going to do?” Another, also a fan of Biden, texted: “It’s imperative we change horses.” But Democrats have been reluctant to say this out loud and undermine Biden. So it will be up to Joe and Jill Biden to make this choice themselves.
This will be a wrenching choice. But, Mr. President, one way you can serve your country in 2024 is by announcing your retirement and calling on delegates to replace you, for that is the safest course for our nation.
Many have long speculated that the Democrats plan to replace Biden at or before the convention.
One of the most popular names to come up as a possible replacement has been California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has long denied that he intends to run. Governor Gavin Newsom is asked after the debate if he's going to replace Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee.
Look at him glow 👀pic.twitter.com/HrROFGRi5J
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) June 28, 2024
Newsom was present in Atlanta under the pretense of being a surrogate for the Biden campaign. Though he continued to deny that he plans to run, he was all smiles when asked about it.
SCNR has reached out to Kristof and asked if the article was prewritten prior to the debate. We will update this story if a response is provided.
