Are the Calls Asking Joe Biden to Step Aside Coming from the Media? Or the Democrats?

Although some of the more conspiratorial Democrats and Republicans are suggesting that the effort to remove Joe Biden from the Presidential ticket is media-driven, the media insists otherwise, claiming they’re only reporting the panic inside the Democratic party. And there’s plenty to report.

Yesterday, Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first elected Democrat to call for Joe Biden to step down. But let’s be real: Doggett is a progressive from Austin. This is the first time I’d ever heard of Lloyd Doggett. It’s not exactly a serious threat to Biden’s presidency.

Likewise, Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse wants assurances and insists the public know more about Biden’s “condition.” Elsewhere, a few prominent anti-Trump Republicans also asked Biden to step down. A number of Democratic Governors, meanwhile, have expressed frustration that Biden hasn’t reached out. Nancy Pelosi is out there saying it’s “a legitimate question to ask, ‘Is this an episode or is this a condition?’” Rep. Jim Clyburn — whose endorsement propelled Biden to a primary win in 2020 — is sticking with Biden but also saying that if he were to drop out, he’d support Kamala Harris.

In isolation, each of these instances probably isn’t a big deal. But the snowball is gathering more snow, and President Obama is getting his gloves ready to roll it down the hill. The biggest problem so far is that since the debate, Biden has done little to stand in the way of the snowball. He’s not calling party leaders to calm their nerves. He’s not boisterously campaigning in swing states to assuage voter fears. He’s also not doing what he most needs to do to restore confidence: Give lengthy press conferences and interviews to legitimate news outlets to illustrate his mental acuity (sorry, Seth Meyers and Howard Stern don’t count).

That’s going to change. Biden is giving an interview to George Stephanopoulos today, portions of which will air on Friday and Sunday. It’s unclear if performing well during that interview will quiet the Democratic masses or if Democrats will also move the goalposts and insist on a press conference.

One thing’s certain: The polls, whatever they may mean, haven’t been comforting. On one hand, a CNN poll says the race nationally is unchanged from April, nevermind that Biden had made significant gains ahead of the debate. More troubling are internal polls — per Puck News — showing Biden not only being badly defeated in swing states but turning Virginia, New Hampshire, and New Mexico into swing states.

It’s only June. Polls don’t matter. Sure. But also, those same polls show Gretchen Whitmer, Gavin Newsom, Pete Buttigieg, and Kamala Harris polling better than Biden now. That wasn’t the case before. In fact, both Whitmer — who would crush Trump in Michigan, according to those polls — and Buttigieg are polling at 50 percent in enough states to earn between 260 and 301 Electoral votes (270 are required). (I’m still voting for Kamala, but if she were to put Whitmer on her ticket, who am I to complain?)

Finally, not that it actually needs to be said, but whoever ends up leading the Democratic ticket is obviously the best choice this November (and it’s certainly not the guy who basically admitted to sexual assault yesterday while denying that he ate a dog). Here’s a good reminder of why: Trump is planning to use Civil Rights laws to eradicate DEI programs and argue against anti-white racism. He wants affirmative action. For white people. The ACLU is marshaling resources to combat those efforts, as they did during Trump’s first term. It might be a good time to donate to the ACLU again. (Full disclosure: My wife is the director of my state’s ACLU).