A second major U.S. newspaper called on President Joe Biden to drop his reelection bid over his stunningly bad debate against former President Donald Trump — and doubled down by demanding that he act "immediately."
The editorial board of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said that if Biden "truly hopes to defeat Trump, he must pass the torch to the next generation of Democratic leaders and urge the party to nominate another candidate at its convention in Chicago in August."
"Doing this will require a massive and unprecedented string of legal and regulatory actions to get a Biden successor named and placed on each state's ballot," noted the editorial posted online Saturday. "This is difficult and necessary work that must start immediately."
The swing state newspaper, based in the city that hosted Thursday's debate, also blasted the excuses offered for Biden's poor performance by supporters, including by President Barack Obama, who said on social media: "Bad debate nights happen."
"These responses are insulting to the American people," the AJC's editorial board wrote. "This wasn't a bad night; it was confirmation of the worst fears of some of Biden's most ardent supporters — that after 36 years in the U.S. Senate, eight more as vice president and a term in the White House, age has finally caught up to him."
The editorial was published a day after the New York Times' editorial board said Biden, 81, was "not the man he was four years ago" and should "serve his country" by quitting his race against Trump.
