Has the time come for President Biden to step down from office?

The question is being asked with renewed intensity after Special Counsel Robert Hur’s damning critique of the president’s memory – and after Biden botched the press conference in response to Hur’s report.

The central concern underlying the question of whether they should Biden relinquish power is that Biden lacks the mental faculties to serve as president.

 

Of course, if Biden were to step down, that would launch Vice President Kamala Harris into the presidency – a premise that horrifies conservatives and concerns liberals and raises a new question entirely: would you prefer Biden or Harris in the president’s chair?

Should Joe Biden Step Down?

One thing seems clear: Biden isn’t who he used to be.

After five decades in the public eye, Biden, who first entered elected office in the 1970s, has a well-documented career. I mean well-documented, literally.

Footage and transcripts of Biden's thinking and speaking are available for the last fifty years. Were anyone so inclined, they could consult the historical record and gauge where Biden was relative to where he is now.

The contrast would likely appear stark. While Biden never had a Jimmy Carter like intellect, Biden was baseline competent for a long time. Biden was smooth and charismatic. He knew the Senate and operated accordingly. He ran for president. He was elected vice president. He competed in debates and demonstrated concretely that he could speak and think in real time. But that was before Biden hit his 80^th birthday.

Joe Biden Has Lost Many Steps 

Or his 81^st birthday. Biden is, to even the casual observer, not the man he used to be. He struggles to finish sentences. He misses names and dates. He sounds soft between the ears. He looks old and frail. And he should. Biden is the oldest person ever to serve as president. Biden has already exceeded the life expectancy for the US male – statistically, Biden is playing with house money.

Should someone in Biden’s condition be running the most powerful country on Earth?

In principle, no. Biden is not what Americans, or global citizens, deserve. But procedurally, yes, Biden is the president – and he’s in roughly the same shape he was when voters elected him president in 2020 – meaning the American public knew what they were buying.

If Biden wants to step down, that’s entirely up to him, and whether he knows something about his mental state that the Americans who voted him into power do not.

Is Kamala Harris A Better Alternative? 

Vice President Kamala Harris doesn’t have a Jimmy Carter-type intellect, either. But Harris, unlike her boss, still has her faculties intact.

Some have proposed that Harris should take over from Biden. But that wouldn’t make everyone happy, would it.

Kamala Harris has never been a popular vice president. And when Harris ran for president against Biden in 2020, Harris’s campaign imploded. Harris withdrew from the race when her campaign went bankrupt while her polls were stuck in the low single digits. Biden, of course, beat Harris (and several other qualified candidates) to win the Democratic primary before ousting the incumbent President Trump in the general election.

The point is, when voters had a choice, just four years ago, between Harris and Biden, the voters overwhelmingly chose Biden. Now voters are living with the choice they made.

About the Author: Harrison Kass

Harrison Kass is a defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.

Image Credit: Gage Skidmore.