By Grace Vuoto
The first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign season provided clarity: President Joe Biden can no longer lead America. The 81-year-old Democrat has to face hard truths; he has lost the confidence of the majority of the American people. According to a Yahoo News/YouGov poll, published July 2, 60 percent of respondents state he is not fit to serve a second term. In other words, Joe, it’s time to go.
The president’s debate performance was horrible. Within minutes of the start, he could not maintain his train of thought or produce coherent sentences. The presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump uttered what many viewers were thinking with the night’s most memorable phrase: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
During subsequent days, the Biden family, the Democratic and Republican Party and many members of the press have been evaluating whether or not the president should remain the Democratic nominee. Following a meeting with his family on Sunday, Biden insists he is remaining in the campaign.
The focus on the election obscures a more dire reality: Biden must not only immediately withdraw from the race; he must also resign from office. America cannot risk a vacuum of this magnitude in the Oval Office until a new occupant arrives in January 2025. This puts the nation at grave risk over the course of over six months--and perhaps even longer if he is somehow re-elected.
The role of the commander-in-chief is to inspire confidence in our allies and fear from our enemies. Yet, this old, stumbling, mumbling, bumbling man the world saw on stage invokes either pity or utter contempt for our nation. This is highly dangerous for the world’s greatest power on earth—one whose foes eagerly wait for the right moment to strike in order to obtain whatever advantage they are dreaming of.
The audio and video clips of the debate are being played on radio stations and televisions around the globe. It is not just that the debate produced international headlines declaring Biden had flopped; the audio clips are now circulating, as well as the images of a dazed and confused man. These can be heard and seen by both elites and the most uneducated in far places around the world—those who have been waiting for the moment to pounce. Now will be their opportunity.
This was not just “a bad night” as White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre states. Biden has a cognitive illness that has been plaguing him for years; the public saw this illness fully exposed on television, and it is obvious it is advancing quickly. It is the role of the press to uncover his exact medical condition and reveal it to the people, stated the former White House chief of staff Rince Priebus on ABC’s This Week on June 30th.
“This is not a bad debate night. This was an incoherent, almost impossible mess. And I think that journalists and voters should demand an answer. You all need to demand an answer why,” said Priebus.
We need answers. What does he have? How long has this been known by his family and aides? Which medication has been prescribed? And who has been making key decisions when Biden is unable to do so?
Nonetheless, the paths forward for any self-respecting nation is to either force him to resign immediately or have the cabinet invoke the 25th amendment. Indeed, this means the incompetent Vice President Kamala Harris will assume the reigns temporarily. Yes, she too is a fool. But that is less urgent than a leader who is altogether mentally unable to hold office.
And if we don’t speak with one voice on this as a nation, regardless of party affiliation or election posturing, we risk a disastrous attack on our interests or our people. Biden’s appalling debate performance is a national emergency. Let us heed the call.
-Grace Vuoto, Ph.D. is a political commentator and columnist. She can be heard Wednesday mornings at 9:00 am on The Kuhner Report WRKO-AM 680.
-Photo Credit ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP / Getty Images