More journalists are telling Biden to hang it up, advice he’s sure to ignore

Joe Biden is getting all kinds of signals – coded signals, whispered signals, loud signals, smoke signals.

They vary in tone and emphasis, but basically they carry the same message from his supporters as this piece that led the Atlantic’s website: “STEP ASIDE, JOE BIDEN.”

It’s stunning, for an incumbent president who seems to have a lock on his party’s nomination, that so many folks – some privately, some publicly – want him to pass on running again. They are showering him with praise – great first term, long list of accomplishments, you’ll be a hero if you step down – in hopes of persuading him to take the gold watch and decamp to Rehoboth Beach.

The reason is fundamental. They’re concerned that Biden’s pursuit of a second term, at his advanced age, could lead to a second term for Donald Trump.

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In stunning fashion, even Democrats are asking President Biden to not run for re-election in 2024. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Not so long ago, the opposite argument was made for Biden, that he was the only Democrat who could beat his predecessor again. But lousy polls and signs of frailty, such as falling down, combined with Trump apparently steamrolling to the nomination, have scrambled that equation.

Let me say a couple of things about the president, who I’ve covered since he was Senate Judiciary chairman. He’s obviously slowed down, and sometimes seems confused, now that he’s an octogenarian, but he’s always been a self-described gaffe machine.

When Biden keeps conflating Iraq with Ukraine, it’s hardly that he doesn’t know the difference. He was able to display a sophisticated grasp of foreign policy in a recent sit-down with Fareed Zakaria. 

The right-wing caricature of Biden as a guy who can’t string two sentences together and doesn’t know what’s going on around him is just not true.

President Biden poses alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a visit to the White House. (Fox News)

But political success isn’t based on a pop quiz. You have to be able to project strength and authority, and it’s certainly fair for people to wonder how a re-elected Biden would fare at 86, which is why a majority of Democrats tell pollsters they want him to stand down (though many of them would back him against Trump).

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Eliot Cohen, author of the Atlantic piece, says the president is being “selfish”:

“Joe Biden had the leading role in a crucial act in the grand story of America, and he played it with grace and honor. It is time for him to take a bow, accept the thanks of a grateful nation, and exit to well-deserved applause.”

In Politico, Jack Shafer says the Democrats should field a primary candidate against Biden, which would either give him a tune up or drive him from the race:

“If Biden can’t vanquish a worthy Democrat in primary season, he has no business entering the general.”

The Hill columnist Becket Adams rounds up the gaffes – such as Biden blurting out “God Save the Queen, man” – under the headline “We Need to Have a Serious Conversation About Joe Biden’s Brain”:

“One can’t help but feel as if the news industry as a whole is avoiding the obvious follow-up question. Namely, ‘Is Biden OK?’”

More media types have been asking that since his piece was published.

Another angle surfaced yesterday in Axios, with the clever headline “Old Yeller”:

“Biden has such a quick-trigger temper that some aides try to avoid meeting alone with him. Some take a colleague, almost as a shield against a solo blast.”

These include such curse-fueled missives as “Goddammit, how the f*** don’t you know this?!,’ ‘Don’t f***ing bull*** me!’”

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Axios says this is at odds with Biden’s “carefully cultivated image as a kindly uncle who loves Aviator sunglasses and ice cream,” though the public has certainly seen glimpses of it when he snaps at reporters.

But here’s the key passage: “Some Biden aides think the president would be better off occasionally displaying his temper in public as a way to assuage voter concerns that the 80-year-old president is disengaged and too old for the office.”

President Joe Biden’s approval ratings slipped to 36%, according to a new survey. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

While I’m sure there was some digging here, I doubt White House officials are displeased with a story that required some cooperation. They presumably like the idea of Biden reaming out staffers behind the scenes, the fire in the belly that is rarely visible in public.

There’s no question that California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and about 150 other Democrats would love to run, but don’t want to risk trying and failing to take down the king.

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Of course Biden is determined to run again. He had two previous unsuccessful bids, the first one in 1987, which I covered, ending in a plagiarism scandal. It’s nice flying around on Air Force One and having Marines salute you everywhere.

So he’ll probably ignore all the signals, whose frequency reflects the growing anxiety in the Democratic Party.

Howard Kurtz is the host of FOX News Channel’s MediaBuzz (Sundays 11 a.m.-12 p.m. ET). Based in Washington, D.C., he joined the network in July 2013 and regularly appears on Special Report with Bret Baier and other programs.