It’s not necessarily age that’s the problem. Bernie Sanders (not an official Dem) is older than Biden and he’s still exciting to a lot of Democrats, myself included. The problem is that some older Dems have too much ego to step down when it’s clearly their time.
Almost definitely not; the job is just extremely taxing. Even the younger presidents we’ve had over the course of my lifetime aged significantly during their time in office. Granted I feel like 8 years from age 50 is a bigger gulf than 8 years from age 30, and time only accelerates as you get older. But like..being president would be uniquely stressful.
They have a better understanding of power. Thomas will retire if Trump is in office and they can appoint a replacement. They know their goals and what it takes to accomplish them.
The republicans also at least have the bare minimum understanding of party discipline that’s necessary in politics. There’s some ideological wiggle-room and factional conflict like any political party, but when rubber meets the road, any Republican who doesn’t toe the line is immediately devoured by the party. It’ll be a cold day in hell before the republicans let a Manchin and Sinema wreck their agenda for shits and giggles.
Exactly. When things get hot they dip for the private sector like Paul Ryan or John Boehner. No reason to get run out of town by the but bags when you can just go be a lobbyist.
This is a common misconception. Just because both sides have the same problem, it doesn’t justify accepting the problem from both sides.
I have no ability or desire to fix the GOP, and prefer to tend my own backyard.
Mitch McConnell, Clarence Thomas and Donald Trump are all so much more cognitively aware and coherent than Fienstein, Biden and RBG are/were. Trump is an idiot but he's always been one so there's nothing new there. Thomas and McConnell are as sharp as ever they're just absolute freaks. Feinstein was like literally dying and her staffers were pretending she was fine, I've never seen an analog to this on the republican side
They're horrible people but they're definitely still all "there". RBG less so, but Feinstein and Biden were/are legitimately on some weekend at Bernie's shit
Really, the same Mconnell that fell down the stairs twice last year and had a mini stroke in front of cameras?
My point is it’s not a single party problem. Both parties are full of old people that refuse to step down.
Okay you're right about McConnell I kinda forgot those things happened. I don't think Trump and Thomas qualify here though, even though they are old. Their age just hasn't effected them the way it's done some others.
I'd also like to amend my statement earlier and say that the republican analog for Feinstein is absolutely Chuck Grassley, so there is one
You must have missed the numerous times Trump has recently waxed poetic about such thought provoking topics as how magnets don't work in water and how it would be preferable to get electrocuted to death rather than being eaten by a shark. Yep, he sure seems sharp as tack.
I'd agree about Thomas though.
How about 65? It’s all a thought experiment anyway. Trump wins this election like he’s running against Mondale and we’ll call it a mandate, all of his dreams come true and everyone of his shithead kids gets a turn to be president. Democrats need to start preparing a Jon Stewart Beyoncé campaign if they ever want another chance, they’re about to lose everything.
My fear is they're going to do that for us and take us down with them. I've thought for years that real change in America won't happen until a lot of people die. Most people's lives aren't bad enough yet to be bothered. If/ when trump gets elected there's a real chance for that to happen.
Feinstein and McConnell don’t have to make executive decisions in the middle of the night, Biden does. So Biden’s case is way worse. Even for RGB, you can argue that she thought Hillary was almost certain to win - opposite of the situation Biden finds himself in.
How can he be so blind to the fact that he literally has no chance to beat Trump as this point? I worry that his family and “inner circle “ are not being honest with him. He’s unelectable at this point. What a fucking disaster this is.
I don’t think he has dementia. He’s old. He’s 81. He has good days and bad days. That being said, it’s not acceptable when you’re the president of the United States.
I watched the debate. He seemed like my gran in the early stages of dementia, when you can deny it, because of the good days and bad days.
But eventually they all become bad days.
The inner circle knows that they won’t be inner circle anymore once a new candidate is running. Its all for their benefit. Donors walking out of him right now might be the only wake up call that works. The money is better spent down ballot
There’s a lot of truth to that. People whose livelihood and cache are directly tied in with Biden being president. He needs to hear truth to power about what the actual fuck is going on in the minds of average Americans. People have been saying, for years, that they weren’t comfortable having a president who’d be 86 years old at the end of his 2nd term. He was too stubborn to listen, and here we are.
there's no way you get to any kind of top level of anything without being some combination of delusional and selfish.
i'm literally doing what i went to college for and literally the only way to kill the imposter syndrome is to silence doubtful thoughts. these guys are probably masters at that.
It's his legacy either way. After last week's debate, he'll always be remembered as "the senile old man" President, whether he drops out, gets BTFO in the election, or manages to win and really goes off the rails. His only hope would be to somehow prove everyone wrong, win, and demonstrate years of undeniable competence.
But if he drops out, his legacy as a 50 year political insider will always be boiled down to Trump saying "I don't know what he said at the end there, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't know what he said either."
Well, unlike RBG, his inability to accept the inevitable could possibly be caused my his mental decline.
Just like Feinstein, the majority of the criticism might fall on the handlers who knew better. Feinstein was so gone that that definitely was the case.
I went from donating to considering leaving the Democratic Party in less than a week because of this guy.
Edit: I never said anything about voting for Trump, a third party, or not voting. Let’s not be stupid. I’d vote for a weekend at Bernie’s situation over helping our country slip into the grasp of the Khmer Stooge movement.
I golfed last Friday and shot an 89 which is about right in line with my handicap (18ish) for that course and one of my buddies goes “nice round but Joe would shoot a 76 here” lmao Trump is a much better golfer but the pros he’s golfed with say he’s more like a 10 or 12 handicap which is still very good but not nearly as good as the 2 he claims to be.
I can deal with handicap shenanigans, what I can't deal with is a man that tells me he will be too busy working to play golf and then turns around and sets records for amount of golf played.
That’s a good point. Ask any laid off tech worker who heard nothing but encouraging words of how well things were going, up until they got a call from HR letting them know they were being let go. Which is just to say most leaders will tell lies to their underlings just to keep morale up.
Just tightening our belt a bit. Things are going great. Exciting things on the horizon. Small delays on closing the next round of funding.
3 months later lays off 30% of the company.
The next time I hear even rumblings of that messaging, I'm looking for a new job immediately.
A political YouTuber I watch said today to keep in mind that they can’t say “yea we’re considering dropping out” cuz the second they do, it’s already over and they have to. If it does happen it’s going to be right after saying nothing will make him drop out, that’s just kinda how it has to go
His dementia is clearly accelerating at a very fast pace if they can’t even get a coherent 90 minutes with five days of prep time.
By January, he may not even remember that he used to be president.
Whatever he has is obviously getting worse though. He was not like this before. If it’s not dementia it’s some other neurocognitive disorder and it’s accelerating.
Sold dementia meds for five years had some clinical experience during training to see dementia up close in a study center as well as lots of anecdotal info from docs who treat it daily.
Dementia progression does NOT follow a linear path. A patient may stabilize for months and then experience a huge amount of degradation over a very short period of time. Patients are aware/embarrassed of these changes and develop coping skills to hide the symptoms from friends and family.
The debate performance laid bare that Biden has gone downhill. I don't even want to imagine what he will be like in four years. Unquestionably there needs to be an alternative plan in place.
He will be on bed rest and being spoon-fed by the end of 2028. The decline has been steep. He was an excellent one term president. He saved us from Trump in 2020. That’s a good legacy.
yeah none of these people have family members with dementia and it shows, glad they don’t but it’s the worst disease in existence to witness. it’s not just forgetting shit or losing your words - it’s losing where you are, who you are, why am i here, and everything that goes with it.
He's very clearly has issues with sundowning since 2020 it's just gotten way worse. Sundowning can lead to dementia like symptoms, confusion, etc. The debate was late at night and so h couldn't pull it together. His stutter definitely doesn't help as he is often hard to understand even when he's at 100%.
Seriously, bro. In just a matter of a week, I have lost almost all the respect I had for him. I thought his best trait was his empathy; that he's a good man.
Fuck it, man. He's not thinking about us, his constituents and our country's future and it's disappointing as FUCK. He has all his advisors on TV screaming about how bad Trump is and how awesome Biden is, and will be.
GET YOUR ASS ON TV JOE, PLEAD YOUR CASE TO US!! What a fucking joke. This shit is depressing and it just keeps getting worse.
This is standard damage control. Who knows what internal discussions are taking place.
Personally, I think the urgency from down ballet candidates will be the key.
Yeah this is the takeaway. He still has scheduled calls, he's not going to say anything else while weighing the question. If he addresses it with a shrug, that's not helpful either. It sounds like, per that NYT article today, there's the Friday interview and two swing state events before we really know one way or another. This definitely all still very fluid.
Hopefully you're right - if he's contemplating it but not firmly committed, he wouldn't publicly acknowledge he might drop out. It would doom his campaign to say "yeah maybe they're right I'm too old" but stay on the ballot.
This isn't exactly the same since he's already won the primaries but there have been tons of examples where candidates say they'll never drop out, they're going to win, up until the point where they do in fact drop out. I'm crossing my fingers he'll do the right thing when he sees the polling. Which I'd imagine is only going to get worse for him - at this point the perception isn't just that he's too old, but also that he's too stubborn and is staying in just for his ego.
Yep, joe biden has always been an egomaniac and his ego along with democratic incompetence 8s going to cost the world.
Joe biden will be remembered as one of the main reasons our country failed, if he is remembered at all
Aggressively ignoring what the voters are saying and angrily chastising them for expressing concerns is a great way to win an election, Joe. Thanks for holding steady!!
No, he is not capable of doing that. He will have a ghost writer draft an op ed saying we should have showed up at the polls and now everything is the voter’s fault.
Everyone needs to call/email their local state and federal representatives and senators and tell them that Joe Biden needs to step aside and release his delegates immediately.
I am so anxious he will stubbornly stick it out for no reason other than his own pride and the manipulation of his handlers.
Biden’s campaign is dead and he is wholly incapable, both mentally and physically, of waging the aggressive campaign necessary to come back from his losing position.
The DNC cannot relent. They must continue to apply maximum pressure until he steps aside, or if necessary, the DNC should release his delegates by changing the primary rules and force him to run in a mini-primary or an open convention.
I don’t think they will relent. There are too many pissed off people. Biden may get most of the party to back him publicly, but there is going to be a significant faction that don’t. And among the media, mainstream news sources aren’t going to hold off anymore.
I think this is going to be an absolute shit show and the Democratic Party is never going to be the same.
With so many stories about his declining mental acuity, I feel like there was some level of conspiracy to cover it up. All these leaks can’t be a coincidence. Maybe lower staffers that were under threat not to speak finally got fed up, or maybe the media was more aware than they originally let on. Idk.
I read an opinion piece on how Jill is his biggest enabler, shielder, and borderline shadow president. I think the third part is an exaggeration but it’s a legit question why she suddenly attends him at all times and has deliberately shrank the number of people he has contact with. She would know better than anybody and maybe she thought she was doing the right thing but either way the cat is out of the bag now and it’s not going back in.
agreed. There are a lot of stories and leaks flying around, and I'm not quite sure what to make out of all of them, but I think they all add up to something being rotten in that inner circle.
why the fuck is Hunter attending attending White House meetings now? This was the biggest red flag to me. Who OK'ed this?
>, I feel like there was some level of conspiracy to cover it up.
Not to be a dick, but...ya think? This debate is by no means the first time he's appeared to be losing it. This has been going on for at least two years while the DNC and their surrogates in the press have been praising his mental sharpness and decrying anyone suggesting otherwise as being part of some right wing misinformation campaign.
In this very subreddit no less. Where are these people at? I remember arguing with them like 2 months ago.
Someone needs to address the root cause of why people even denied this in the first place. Like why did people refuse to talk about what was obvious to anyone paying attention? Why were people attacked for even bringing it up?
> President Joe Biden defiantly vowed on Wednesday to keep running for reelection, rejecting growing pressure from within his Democratic Party to withdraw after a disastrous debate performance raised questions about his readiness. He said he would not be forced from the race.
> “**I am running. I am the leader of the Democratic Party. No one is pushing me out,” Biden said**, according to a top aide who posted his comment on the X social media platform.
As others have said in other threads, this is expected.
He would say this if he was dead set on staying in, no matter how bleak it looks. No dropping out. No exit strategy.
He would also say this if he was in closed door talks with the relevant folks to plan an orderly exit from the race that does the best that it can to set his successor up for success while doing the minimum amount of damage to what's left to his Presidency or legacy.
The real breaking news will happen when or if the major media outlets haven't moved on to a new shiny object by the end of next week or someone who cannot be ignored except at grave peril to what's left of Biden's credibility goes rogue.
Are we seeing the end of both the DNC and RNC? Both political parties are now powerless to hold their presidential candidate in check.
I don't understand why DNC is suddenly so spineless when they were so willing to work behind the scenes (or maybe not so behind) in 2016 and 2020 to get the candidates the Party wanted. Why is the Party now so willing to ride the Biden train into the abyss when 2025 could see a completely unchecked Trump do literally whatever he wants.
If we could only do a no confidence vote for both of these parties and remove the de facto ballot presence of both of them and remove the protections the 2 parties receive to exclude them from competition from other parties.
I'm so tired of the bullshit "if you don't vote blue you're allowing red to win". We'll fuck you blue and fuck you red. Earn my fucking vote.
He’s going to drop out but he’s a proud man. He’s not going to let it seem like it was anyone’s decision but his own. And, frankly, it is. But it isn’t.
Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh.
The fact that he appears to be thinking about this and framing this as him being pressured to drop out and him being unwilling to be pushed is just really bad. The very framing of it makes it seem like he’s just in a bad place, mentally, and not making decisions empirically.
If he had come out and said “I’m in this to the end; I know there are those that doubt me, and their hearts and in the right place since they, like me, are worried about the future of the country. But I am 100% confident this is the right path for the party and for our country and we will win; I know I’ve stumbled, but I’ve stumbled before, and I’m asking to you join me on this last push”, I’d probably feel a little better. But his message makes him sound like Jordan Belfort.
This is gonna be painful as fuck, even if we win.
No one should have to push him out. He should acknowledge reality. His performance was disastrous and he should immediately step down voluntarily before it’s too late.
BAH HA HA HA I called it.
On a more serious note, he's going to lose and lose badly, and *everyone* is going to have to deal with the consequences of his intransigence.
Can anyone relate to this? Trying to see if what I’m experiencing is common.
Late twenties friend group. Very diverse in race, income, and living location.
In 2020 everyone in this group voted for Biden. Mostly that was a vote against Trump more than a vote for Biden. The last year or so a few people have started being more open to Trump coming back. Even more people have made it appear displeased with Biden and likely to sit out this time around.
The main reasons appear to be non policy and tied to Biden’s age. A few things such as student loan forgiveness being taken back and just general cost of living increases seem to also really be hurting Biden.
Can anyone relate?
A Subway footlong is now $14 in some cities from like $6 during Trump years. Young people in your group notice that. Despite all the “soak the rich” progressive rhetoric from the Democratic Party, only the rich with assets are doing well. Even white collar workers who depend on a W2 are suffering with layoffs looming.
Yeah basically this but in NYC . The general vibe of dems being soft on crime and migrants is not helping in one of the most blue cities in the country. I’m not talking about Manhattan transplants or LIC and Williamsburg. I’m talking about the outer boroughs where the vast majority of non transplant New Yorkers live. The vibe right now is very much in favor of Trump.
Well. That’s the game then. We will have less volunteers in swing districts. Enthusiasm will flatten. Small dollar donations will drop. We’ll have less volunteers to canvas. People don’t want to try to sell this candidate. He’ll lose and cause a split in our party. If he in fact loses the “step aside crowd” will never forget or forgive. We’ll have become the R’s all because one man’s pride. We’ll be fractured and cooked. We will have lost to a clown. This clown has a official act flamethrower too btw.
>“I am running. I am the leader of the Democratic Party. No one is pushing me out,” Biden said, *according to a top aide who posted his comment on the X social media platform.*
I’m just glad the campaign is taking seriously the criticism that everything Biden says publicly is highly-managed and promulgated through intermediaries.
Ironically I have felt that way since 2019
His mix of charisma, humor, and political savvy would destroy Trump
Not disparaging Me-Too, but his "scandal" was such an obvious hatchet job, a Trump supporter and "unnamed sources with stories that often fell apart under scrutiny"
Well it was a nice week speculating with you all. I guess that seals it though. Unless he has a true medical event in the next five weeks its Biden vs Trump in November
Honestly this fits in with every old person I’ve ever known. They don’t see it. They don’t believe it. And they insist they’re ok.
I also think some of these emotionally upset people defending him so strongly, have something else going on. Like they can’t imagine ‘putting daddy in the home’. It’s beyond weird. Common but disturbing to watch on tv.
This shit is making me a bit less worried about the probable Trump presidency. If democracy really was on the line, there’s no way they’d let this man’s ego get in the way. Or maybe the Democratic Party has gotten that bad.
I’m resigned to Trump winning. I just really dread the constant outrage from Democrats for the next 4 years. I think I’ll take up a new hobby, and tune the fuck out…..like drinking heavily or doing mushrooms. Trump won’t be any worse or better than he was last time. He can’t control a very entrenched government. All the hyperbole about 2025 and the end of democracy, simply won’t happen. It will just be another lackluster presidency that solves no major issues and contributes to the downward spiral.
Trump did say something that could be used against him in the debate. He said that Biden running again is the only reason he chose to. Biden could use that to his advantage, in dropping out. He could challenge Trump to do the same. I’m pretty sure the vast majority of the country would support that.
This means Biden will be gone by Monday. Reminds me of when McGovern said he was 1,000% behind Eagleton, who was then booted from the ticket a couple of days later.
I refuse to believe Biden's "dementia like" concerns haven't been glossed over and hidden by the brass of the Democrat Party. There have been all kinds of reports that Biden is losing it on the regular. They thought it best to roll him out Weekend at Bernie's style instead of coming clean and allowing a quality candidate to enter the primary as a viable alternative before the primaries actually started. This should have been addressed right near or after midterms.
Say what you will about Trump, at least he was nominated in a fair, open primary. The Biden admin, DNC and most of the media lied about his cognitive decline for over a year despite many polls showing the majority of democrats wanted him to drop out a long time ago. How can the Democrat party survive after being so out of touch, so deceptive and so wrong about this?
I’m starting to think that when Trump becomes dictator and executes them all maybe a large amount of them will deserve it anyway. Gotta look for some silver lining I guess.
So I’d recommend Canada, but their visa system is a little jammed and immigrating there isn’t the easiest compared to peer nations. Same with the UK, but Germany is great alternative.
Please people take a deep breath. Do you really want to vote for Trump? I hope biden steps aside , the cleanest change would be to let Harris have the top of the ticket. The VP pick would be crucial. I think Harris could pick up from biden's floor, this could work. You can change the top of the ticket, but that gets messy. You have to have someone that can call Trump on his bullshit, someone quick at the top of their game. Trump can still be beaten. So if your hair is on fire stop drop and roll, it's not over yet.
He'll challenge them to a push up contest and yell at them that he has a higher I.Q.
What an evil arrogant POS. He's denied Secret Service protection to RFK, who had two family members assassinated.
The conversations aren't going to stop members of the House are already calling on him to step aside. If he stays in not only will he lose but he'll go down in history as the man who failed to stop a dictator from taking over America.
I like what he's done or tried to do overall but it's too big a risk against the fascist. Trump could be easily defeated with a different candidate with the exact same platform as Biden
Great. It’s Ginsberg all over again.
The Democrats have a crippling Geriocratic problem
It’s not necessarily age that’s the problem. Bernie Sanders (not an official Dem) is older than Biden and he’s still exciting to a lot of Democrats, myself included. The problem is that some older Dems have too much ego to step down when it’s clearly their time.
I wonder if Bernie would have been as acute after a few years of the presidency, though. I would like somebody under the age of 70.
Almost definitely not; the job is just extremely taxing. Even the younger presidents we’ve had over the course of my lifetime aged significantly during their time in office. Granted I feel like 8 years from age 50 is a bigger gulf than 8 years from age 30, and time only accelerates as you get older. But like..being president would be uniquely stressful.
Mitch Mconnell and Clarence Thomas and Donald Trump would like a word….
They have a better understanding of power. Thomas will retire if Trump is in office and they can appoint a replacement. They know their goals and what it takes to accomplish them.
Bingo
The republicans also at least have the bare minimum understanding of party discipline that’s necessary in politics. There’s some ideological wiggle-room and factional conflict like any political party, but when rubber meets the road, any Republican who doesn’t toe the line is immediately devoured by the party. It’ll be a cold day in hell before the republicans let a Manchin and Sinema wreck their agenda for shits and giggles.
Exactly. When things get hot they dip for the private sector like Paul Ryan or John Boehner. No reason to get run out of town by the but bags when you can just go be a lobbyist.
Yep, they serve the literal devil, but damn if they aren’t pragmatic about how they play the game.
This is a common misconception. Just because both sides have the same problem, it doesn’t justify accepting the problem from both sides. I have no ability or desire to fix the GOP, and prefer to tend my own backyard.
Mitch McConnell, Clarence Thomas and Donald Trump are all so much more cognitively aware and coherent than Fienstein, Biden and RBG are/were. Trump is an idiot but he's always been one so there's nothing new there. Thomas and McConnell are as sharp as ever they're just absolute freaks. Feinstein was like literally dying and her staffers were pretending she was fine, I've never seen an analog to this on the republican side They're horrible people but they're definitely still all "there". RBG less so, but Feinstein and Biden were/are legitimately on some weekend at Bernie's shit
Really, the same Mconnell that fell down the stairs twice last year and had a mini stroke in front of cameras? My point is it’s not a single party problem. Both parties are full of old people that refuse to step down.
Okay you're right about McConnell I kinda forgot those things happened. I don't think Trump and Thomas qualify here though, even though they are old. Their age just hasn't effected them the way it's done some others. I'd also like to amend my statement earlier and say that the republican analog for Feinstein is absolutely Chuck Grassley, so there is one
You must have missed the numerous times Trump has recently waxed poetic about such thought provoking topics as how magnets don't work in water and how it would be preferable to get electrocuted to death rather than being eaten by a shark. Yep, he sure seems sharp as tack. I'd agree about Thomas though.
He thinks this is all a part of his heroic life story.
This is what it’s really about. The ego on this guy
Just like RBG cost us a Supreme Court nomination. Ego.
RBG, Feinstein, McConnell and Biden… maybe this is the final straw and we start admitting that people over 80 shouldn’t be in office.
How about 65? It’s all a thought experiment anyway. Trump wins this election like he’s running against Mondale and we’ll call it a mandate, all of his dreams come true and everyone of his shithead kids gets a turn to be president. Democrats need to start preparing a Jon Stewart Beyoncé campaign if they ever want another chance, they’re about to lose everything.
Yeah I see 65 as a good cutoff for the presidency.
Maybe this is the final straw and we start burning down both parties
My fear is they're going to do that for us and take us down with them. I've thought for years that real change in America won't happen until a lot of people die. Most people's lives aren't bad enough yet to be bothered. If/ when trump gets elected there's a real chance for that to happen.
Feinstein and McConnell don’t have to make executive decisions in the middle of the night, Biden does. So Biden’s case is way worse. Even for RGB, you can argue that she thought Hillary was almost certain to win - opposite of the situation Biden finds himself in.
100%. Democrats are shooting themselves with the whole old ppl nepotism thing. One of the few things Republicans were doing better with pre trump
I don't think there's ever been an election where both candidates have such massive egos. Well, except 2020 of course.
And 2016
2016 takes the cake still.
How can he be so blind to the fact that he literally has no chance to beat Trump as this point? I worry that his family and “inner circle “ are not being honest with him. He’s unelectable at this point. What a fucking disaster this is.
Dementia causes lack of insight into your own diminishing capabilities.
I don’t think he has dementia. He’s old. He’s 81. He has good days and bad days. That being said, it’s not acceptable when you’re the president of the United States.
I watched the debate. He seemed like my gran in the early stages of dementia, when you can deny it, because of the good days and bad days. But eventually they all become bad days.
His family and inner circle basically ARE the president. Jill Biden is like Alicent from the new GoT season.
The inner circle knows that they won’t be inner circle anymore once a new candidate is running. Its all for their benefit. Donors walking out of him right now might be the only wake up call that works. The money is better spent down ballot
There’s a lot of truth to that. People whose livelihood and cache are directly tied in with Biden being president. He needs to hear truth to power about what the actual fuck is going on in the minds of average Americans. People have been saying, for years, that they weren’t comfortable having a president who’d be 86 years old at the end of his 2nd term. He was too stubborn to listen, and here we are.
Ego, pure and simple. Only he can defeat Trump.
there's no way you get to any kind of top level of anything without being some combination of delusional and selfish. i'm literally doing what i went to college for and literally the only way to kill the imposter syndrome is to silence doubtful thoughts. these guys are probably masters at that.
Really good point.
As someone struggling with a career transition, I needed to read this today.
It’s so unfair that he won’t be cognizant enough to understand how hated he’ll be and that this will be his legacy long after he’s gone
Hopefully Jill gets to see it
Modern day Edith Wilson.
It's his legacy either way. After last week's debate, he'll always be remembered as "the senile old man" President, whether he drops out, gets BTFO in the election, or manages to win and really goes off the rails. His only hope would be to somehow prove everyone wrong, win, and demonstrate years of undeniable competence. But if he drops out, his legacy as a 50 year political insider will always be boiled down to Trump saying "I don't know what he said at the end there, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't know what he said either."
Well, unlike RBG, his inability to accept the inevitable could possibly be caused my his mental decline. Just like Feinstein, the majority of the criticism might fall on the handlers who knew better. Feinstein was so gone that that definitely was the case.
I went from donating to considering leaving the Democratic Party in less than a week because of this guy. Edit: I never said anything about voting for Trump, a third party, or not voting. Let’s not be stupid. I’d vote for a weekend at Bernie’s situation over helping our country slip into the grasp of the Khmer Stooge movement.
i mean if he drops out i'm fully back on board!
Ditto.
Do a press conference tough guy.
He'll get to that. First he has a pushup contest to win!
Nah, I heard he’s out on the golf course striping 300 yard drives. Carrying his own bag, of course. None of this pussy golf cart bullshit
I golfed last Friday and shot an 89 which is about right in line with my handicap (18ish) for that course and one of my buddies goes “nice round but Joe would shoot a 76 here” lmao Trump is a much better golfer but the pros he’s golfed with say he’s more like a 10 or 12 handicap which is still very good but not nearly as good as the 2 he claims to be.
When he said his handicap was a 6, it was such a blatant lie. I have a niece who got a d2 scholarship for golf, her handicap is 5 to 6.
I can deal with handicap shenanigans, what I can't deal with is a man that tells me he will be too busy working to play golf and then turns around and sets records for amount of golf played.
Press conference? I want a live interview with a fair, unbiased journalist at 9:00pm EST.
Live interview? You’re asking for wayyy too much.
Biden's team would take cyanide capsules before agreeing to a 9PM live interview.
Not trying to be inflammatory - it just occurs to me now - do we even _have_ a journalist that we’d trust with that anymore?
By 9pm he's probably sundowning.
If it’s between 10-6 then he (and by he I mean Jill) will get right on that.
Or Hunter
10 and 4.
joe the throat goat
This is especially annoying because he isn’t going to have to deal with any of the fallout from this decision and eventual loss.
This is a call with staffers, not a speech to the public. There’s still time/room for him to withdraw, especially as the pressure mounts
That’s a good point. Ask any laid off tech worker who heard nothing but encouraging words of how well things were going, up until they got a call from HR letting them know they were being let go. Which is just to say most leaders will tell lies to their underlings just to keep morale up.
Just tightening our belt a bit. Things are going great. Exciting things on the horizon. Small delays on closing the next round of funding. 3 months later lays off 30% of the company. The next time I hear even rumblings of that messaging, I'm looking for a new job immediately.
This is the most encouraging thing I’ve heard today thank you for reminding me of this. I’m actually serious.
A political YouTuber I watch said today to keep in mind that they can’t say “yea we’re considering dropping out” cuz the second they do, it’s already over and they have to. If it does happen it’s going to be right after saying nothing will make him drop out, that’s just kinda how it has to go
He will literally be persecuted by Trump and his family too. He will likely not be immune, like Trump is immune because the enemy is within SCOTUS
Robert hurr even said biden is too forgetful to charge with a federal crime
His dementia is clearly accelerating at a very fast pace if they can’t even get a coherent 90 minutes with five days of prep time. By January, he may not even remember that he used to be president.
Let's not overdo it. He speaks poorly and maybe thinks slowly now too. That is not the same as dementia.
Whatever he has is obviously getting worse though. He was not like this before. If it’s not dementia it’s some other neurocognitive disorder and it’s accelerating.
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Sold dementia meds for five years had some clinical experience during training to see dementia up close in a study center as well as lots of anecdotal info from docs who treat it daily. Dementia progression does NOT follow a linear path. A patient may stabilize for months and then experience a huge amount of degradation over a very short period of time. Patients are aware/embarrassed of these changes and develop coping skills to hide the symptoms from friends and family. The debate performance laid bare that Biden has gone downhill. I don't even want to imagine what he will be like in four years. Unquestionably there needs to be an alternative plan in place.
He will be on bed rest and being spoon-fed by the end of 2028. The decline has been steep. He was an excellent one term president. He saved us from Trump in 2020. That’s a good legacy.
yeah none of these people have family members with dementia and it shows, glad they don’t but it’s the worst disease in existence to witness. it’s not just forgetting shit or losing your words - it’s losing where you are, who you are, why am i here, and everything that goes with it.
He's very clearly has issues with sundowning since 2020 it's just gotten way worse. Sundowning can lead to dementia like symptoms, confusion, etc. The debate was late at night and so h couldn't pull it together. His stutter definitely doesn't help as he is often hard to understand even when he's at 100%.
Thanks Joe. Your ego got us killed.
Seriously, bro. In just a matter of a week, I have lost almost all the respect I had for him. I thought his best trait was his empathy; that he's a good man. Fuck it, man. He's not thinking about us, his constituents and our country's future and it's disappointing as FUCK. He has all his advisors on TV screaming about how bad Trump is and how awesome Biden is, and will be. GET YOUR ASS ON TV JOE, PLEAD YOUR CASE TO US!! What a fucking joke. This shit is depressing and it just keeps getting worse.
Time to take the car keys from grandpa
Nuke launch codes*
This is standard damage control. Who knows what internal discussions are taking place. Personally, I think the urgency from down ballet candidates will be the key.
Yeah this is the takeaway. He still has scheduled calls, he's not going to say anything else while weighing the question. If he addresses it with a shrug, that's not helpful either. It sounds like, per that NYT article today, there's the Friday interview and two swing state events before we really know one way or another. This definitely all still very fluid.
It's important to note the interview on Friday is not live, but it needs to be live to reassure his own supporters that he can handle this.
Hopefully you're right - if he's contemplating it but not firmly committed, he wouldn't publicly acknowledge he might drop out. It would doom his campaign to say "yeah maybe they're right I'm too old" but stay on the ballot. This isn't exactly the same since he's already won the primaries but there have been tons of examples where candidates say they'll never drop out, they're going to win, up until the point where they do in fact drop out. I'm crossing my fingers he'll do the right thing when he sees the polling. Which I'd imagine is only going to get worse for him - at this point the perception isn't just that he's too old, but also that he's too stubborn and is staying in just for his ego.
Well then we are fucked Joe.
*plays Nearer My God, To Thee*
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Yep, joe biden has always been an egomaniac and his ego along with democratic incompetence 8s going to cost the world. Joe biden will be remembered as one of the main reasons our country failed, if he is remembered at all
Aggressively ignoring what the voters are saying and angrily chastising them for expressing concerns is a great way to win an election, Joe. Thanks for holding steady!!
There’s gonna be a “deplorables” moment all over again lmao
“Anyone who doesn’t vote for me is an alley cat!!!!”
They ain't black, that's for sure.
> ‘No one is pushing me out,’ he says Trump will come January.
Remember the fantasy that Trump was going to chain himself to his desk in the Oval Office and refuse to leave? That will be Biden.
No, he is not capable of doing that. He will have a ghost writer draft an op ed saying we should have showed up at the polls and now everything is the voter’s fault.
Narcissist putting himself over the country.
So we’re fucked then?
Yes.
Pretty much
Everyone needs to call/email their local state and federal representatives and senators and tell them that Joe Biden needs to step aside and release his delegates immediately.
My representative, Danny Davis, is over a year older than Biden lmfao. Fuck this fucking gerontocracy.
I am so anxious he will stubbornly stick it out for no reason other than his own pride and the manipulation of his handlers. Biden’s campaign is dead and he is wholly incapable, both mentally and physically, of waging the aggressive campaign necessary to come back from his losing position. The DNC cannot relent. They must continue to apply maximum pressure until he steps aside, or if necessary, the DNC should release his delegates by changing the primary rules and force him to run in a mini-primary or an open convention.
I don’t think they will relent. There are too many pissed off people. Biden may get most of the party to back him publicly, but there is going to be a significant faction that don’t. And among the media, mainstream news sources aren’t going to hold off anymore. I think this is going to be an absolute shit show and the Democratic Party is never going to be the same.
With so many stories about his declining mental acuity, I feel like there was some level of conspiracy to cover it up. All these leaks can’t be a coincidence. Maybe lower staffers that were under threat not to speak finally got fed up, or maybe the media was more aware than they originally let on. Idk. I read an opinion piece on how Jill is his biggest enabler, shielder, and borderline shadow president. I think the third part is an exaggeration but it’s a legit question why she suddenly attends him at all times and has deliberately shrank the number of people he has contact with. She would know better than anybody and maybe she thought she was doing the right thing but either way the cat is out of the bag now and it’s not going back in.
agreed. There are a lot of stories and leaks flying around, and I'm not quite sure what to make out of all of them, but I think they all add up to something being rotten in that inner circle. why the fuck is Hunter attending attending White House meetings now? This was the biggest red flag to me. Who OK'ed this?
>, I feel like there was some level of conspiracy to cover it up. Not to be a dick, but...ya think? This debate is by no means the first time he's appeared to be losing it. This has been going on for at least two years while the DNC and their surrogates in the press have been praising his mental sharpness and decrying anyone suggesting otherwise as being part of some right wing misinformation campaign.
I'm a huge dem but honestly they deserve it if he doesn't step down.
Love the portion of the dems that told us to shut up about this before the primary even began in 2020. He was already slow AF
In this very subreddit no less. Where are these people at? I remember arguing with them like 2 months ago. Someone needs to address the root cause of why people even denied this in the first place. Like why did people refuse to talk about what was obvious to anyone paying attention? Why were people attacked for even bringing it up?
It's gone from "there is clearly no real issue with his age" and evolved into "too late now you have to vote for him anyway"
Blue MAGA
They’re as deluded as Trump and his followers lmao
No constituency is going to tell our elected officials what to do!
Fuck you, bud.
> President Joe Biden defiantly vowed on Wednesday to keep running for reelection, rejecting growing pressure from within his Democratic Party to withdraw after a disastrous debate performance raised questions about his readiness. He said he would not be forced from the race. > “**I am running. I am the leader of the Democratic Party. No one is pushing me out,” Biden said**, according to a top aide who posted his comment on the X social media platform.
Trump is gonna push him out if he stays in the race. Might even be a landslide loss and THAT will be Biden’s legacy.
As others have said in other threads, this is expected. He would say this if he was dead set on staying in, no matter how bleak it looks. No dropping out. No exit strategy. He would also say this if he was in closed door talks with the relevant folks to plan an orderly exit from the race that does the best that it can to set his successor up for success while doing the minimum amount of damage to what's left to his Presidency or legacy. The real breaking news will happen when or if the major media outlets haven't moved on to a new shiny object by the end of next week or someone who cannot be ignored except at grave peril to what's left of Biden's credibility goes rogue.
Are we seeing the end of both the DNC and RNC? Both political parties are now powerless to hold their presidential candidate in check. I don't understand why DNC is suddenly so spineless when they were so willing to work behind the scenes (or maybe not so behind) in 2016 and 2020 to get the candidates the Party wanted. Why is the Party now so willing to ride the Biden train into the abyss when 2025 could see a completely unchecked Trump do literally whatever he wants.
The RNC is doing just fine letting Trumpism take over. They evolve with the moment. Dems? Not so much.
If we could only do a no confidence vote for both of these parties and remove the de facto ballot presence of both of them and remove the protections the 2 parties receive to exclude them from competition from other parties. I'm so tired of the bullshit "if you don't vote blue you're allowing red to win". We'll fuck you blue and fuck you red. Earn my fucking vote.
Maybe he meant to say I’m jumping before I’m pushed!
He’s going to drop out but he’s a proud man. He’s not going to let it seem like it was anyone’s decision but his own. And, frankly, it is. But it isn’t.
It’s not 2020 anymore, old man
NOOOOOOOOO! I was starting to get some hope. We are fucked.
That'll teach you to have hope
Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh. The fact that he appears to be thinking about this and framing this as him being pressured to drop out and him being unwilling to be pushed is just really bad. The very framing of it makes it seem like he’s just in a bad place, mentally, and not making decisions empirically. If he had come out and said “I’m in this to the end; I know there are those that doubt me, and their hearts and in the right place since they, like me, are worried about the future of the country. But I am 100% confident this is the right path for the party and for our country and we will win; I know I’ve stumbled, but I’ve stumbled before, and I’m asking to you join me on this last push”, I’d probably feel a little better. But his message makes him sound like Jordan Belfort. This is gonna be painful as fuck, even if we win.
Oh don’t worry. He is not winning
This isn't good.
No one should have to push him out. He should acknowledge reality. His performance was disastrous and he should immediately step down voluntarily before it’s too late.
Fuck you, Joe.
BAH HA HA HA I called it. On a more serious note, he's going to lose and lose badly, and *everyone* is going to have to deal with the consequences of his intransigence.
Can anyone relate to this? Trying to see if what I’m experiencing is common. Late twenties friend group. Very diverse in race, income, and living location. In 2020 everyone in this group voted for Biden. Mostly that was a vote against Trump more than a vote for Biden. The last year or so a few people have started being more open to Trump coming back. Even more people have made it appear displeased with Biden and likely to sit out this time around. The main reasons appear to be non policy and tied to Biden’s age. A few things such as student loan forgiveness being taken back and just general cost of living increases seem to also really be hurting Biden. Can anyone relate?
A Subway footlong is now $14 in some cities from like $6 during Trump years. Young people in your group notice that. Despite all the “soak the rich” progressive rhetoric from the Democratic Party, only the rich with assets are doing well. Even white collar workers who depend on a W2 are suffering with layoffs looming.
Sounds about right from my experience. You know what would fix that…a new candidate!
Yeah basically this but in NYC . The general vibe of dems being soft on crime and migrants is not helping in one of the most blue cities in the country. I’m not talking about Manhattan transplants or LIC and Williamsburg. I’m talking about the outer boroughs where the vast majority of non transplant New Yorkers live. The vibe right now is very much in favor of Trump.
Democracy dies in the geriatric ward.
Well. That’s the game then. We will have less volunteers in swing districts. Enthusiasm will flatten. Small dollar donations will drop. We’ll have less volunteers to canvas. People don’t want to try to sell this candidate. He’ll lose and cause a split in our party. If he in fact loses the “step aside crowd” will never forget or forgive. We’ll have become the R’s all because one man’s pride. We’ll be fractured and cooked. We will have lost to a clown. This clown has a official act flamethrower too btw.
maybe a strong breeze will push him down the Air Force one stairs again
>“I am running. I am the leader of the Democratic Party. No one is pushing me out,” Biden said, *according to a top aide who posted his comment on the X social media platform.* I’m just glad the campaign is taking seriously the criticism that everything Biden says publicly is highly-managed and promulgated through intermediaries.
What a douchebag
It’s irrational and I’ll never let it leak out to their faces, but I’m really starting to hate old people.
Al Franken could win for Dems
Ironically I have felt that way since 2019 His mix of charisma, humor, and political savvy would destroy Trump Not disparaging Me-Too, but his "scandal" was such an obvious hatchet job, a Trump supporter and "unnamed sources with stories that often fell apart under scrutiny"
Well it was a nice week speculating with you all. I guess that seals it though. Unless he has a true medical event in the next five weeks its Biden vs Trump in November
Hunter is telling his dad to stay in the race. Fuk all the Bidens at this point.
Honestly this fits in with every old person I’ve ever known. They don’t see it. They don’t believe it. And they insist they’re ok. I also think some of these emotionally upset people defending him so strongly, have something else going on. Like they can’t imagine ‘putting daddy in the home’. It’s beyond weird. Common but disturbing to watch on tv.
This shit is making me a bit less worried about the probable Trump presidency. If democracy really was on the line, there’s no way they’d let this man’s ego get in the way. Or maybe the Democratic Party has gotten that bad.
I’m resigned to Trump winning. I just really dread the constant outrage from Democrats for the next 4 years. I think I’ll take up a new hobby, and tune the fuck out…..like drinking heavily or doing mushrooms. Trump won’t be any worse or better than he was last time. He can’t control a very entrenched government. All the hyperbole about 2025 and the end of democracy, simply won’t happen. It will just be another lackluster presidency that solves no major issues and contributes to the downward spiral. Trump did say something that could be used against him in the debate. He said that Biden running again is the only reason he chose to. Biden could use that to his advantage, in dropping out. He could challenge Trump to do the same. I’m pretty sure the vast majority of the country would support that.
Everyone brace for more Trump
Arm yourselves people.
[How many times do we have to teach you this lesson old man?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymHyOmlUlP0)
Will he be proud of his legacy when he loses and is responsible for the death of our democracy?
Who's the orange man now?
This guy and rbg... modern heroes of the republican party
This means Biden will be gone by Monday. Reminds me of when McGovern said he was 1,000% behind Eagleton, who was then booted from the ticket a couple of days later.
He couldn’t run if his life depended on it.
I refuse to believe Biden's "dementia like" concerns haven't been glossed over and hidden by the brass of the Democrat Party. There have been all kinds of reports that Biden is losing it on the regular. They thought it best to roll him out Weekend at Bernie's style instead of coming clean and allowing a quality candidate to enter the primary as a viable alternative before the primaries actually started. This should have been addressed right near or after midterms.
Say what you will about Trump, at least he was nominated in a fair, open primary. The Biden admin, DNC and most of the media lied about his cognitive decline for over a year despite many polls showing the majority of democrats wanted him to drop out a long time ago. How can the Democrat party survive after being so out of touch, so deceptive and so wrong about this?
I’m starting to think that when Trump becomes dictator and executes them all maybe a large amount of them will deserve it anyway. Gotta look for some silver lining I guess.
Taking the whole ship down 😭😭 my man.
Thanks buddy. Going down in flames
Men in power rarely want to give them up voluntarily. The biggest joke is the “transitional president” lie he told to be crowned by the Dema
Democrats always snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Well, maybe he'll die.
No one is pushing me out - besides the clock at 6:30pm when it’s my bedtime
He must be one of those people that thinks they’re going to die the second they retire.
"No one is pushing me out" I am pretty sure the American people are about to.
Joe, you're the asshole
Great news. More Biden just means trump is guaranteed landslide win. Thank goodness Biden and his administration are down right terrifying
Did *Biden* say that? Did anyone hear him say it? Or did his team just tell the media that he said it
Ego is a hell of a thing.
The alternative is way to risky I think this is a good choice
Love how the entire democratic establishment put their careers on hold for him and he feels entitled to return exactly none of that energy
“No one is pushing me out” Translation: they’re all totally pushing me out
So I’d recommend Canada, but their visa system is a little jammed and immigrating there isn’t the easiest compared to peer nations. Same with the UK, but Germany is great alternative.
If he loses, that's all anyone will remember him for. The fact he's done a solid job as president will mean nothing.
What a mistake
Please people take a deep breath. Do you really want to vote for Trump? I hope biden steps aside , the cleanest change would be to let Harris have the top of the ticket. The VP pick would be crucial. I think Harris could pick up from biden's floor, this could work. You can change the top of the ticket, but that gets messy. You have to have someone that can call Trump on his bullshit, someone quick at the top of their game. Trump can still be beaten. So if your hair is on fire stop drop and roll, it's not over yet.
And this is how America became a dictatorship
The voters are going to push him out and Trump is literally going to lock him up. FUCK these boomers.
He'll challenge them to a push up contest and yell at them that he has a higher I.Q. What an evil arrogant POS. He's denied Secret Service protection to RFK, who had two family members assassinated.
No. We’re not having the country hijacked because of a boomer doing boomer shit. Hell no.
The conversations aren't going to stop members of the House are already calling on him to step aside. If he stays in not only will he lose but he'll go down in history as the man who failed to stop a dictator from taking over America.
Have Biden do a press conference. Show us how worried he is about the future.
Well dems are fucked come election time
Joe, you either step aside or we’re all fucked come January 2025.
Veeeeery “That sign can’t stop me, I can’t read” energy, here.
He needs to look like he's dropping out on his own terms. Important for making sure his base comes out for Kamala.
One of his most trusted advisors telling him to stay in is his crackhead son.
This is so bad. Joe has a dementia problem and appears to be clinging to power like all these other geezers. He can’t beat Trump like this.
Any patriot would step down.
Biden has to remain in office in order to bail out his son after he is sentenced.
How to Lose an Election 101 Class is in session.
Man, I wish his family cared enough about him to take the car keys away before something bad happens.
"Brb, gotta call a real estate agent in New Zealand."
I like what he's done or tried to do overall but it's too big a risk against the fascist. Trump could be easily defeated with a different candidate with the exact same platform as Biden