What the Interview With Biden Showed
To the Editor:
Re “A Defiant Biden Says Only the ‘Lord Almighty’ Could Drive Him From the Race” (nytimes.com, July 5):
Anyone with elderly loved ones knows that they have good days and bad days, which is precisely why President Biden’s interview with George Stephanopoulos means nothing in the big scheme of things.
We’ve already seen plenty of evidence through multiple interviews indicating that both Mr. Biden and Donald Trump are capable of age-related incoherence at any moment. Large majorities of Americans have repeatedly told pollsters they don’t want Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump to run again. The stakes in our next election couldn’t be any higher.
The longer the Democratic Party persists in ramming Mr. Biden down our throats, the more it ensures Mr. Trump’s victory and the loss of American democracy and the rule of law as we know it.
Jeff Crider
Palm Desert, Calif.
To the Editor:
George Stephanopoulos gave President Biden an opportunity to answer questions in a clear and incisive fashion. He failed.
To the question “Did you ever watch the debate afterwards?” his answer was, “I don’t think I did, no.”
The debate was the most important public event in his campaign. Yet he did not know if he watched a replay! The answer revealed issues of memory and possibly a confusion about how any answer would be treated. So, he gave a non-answer to a yes/no question.
Mr. Biden needs immediately to undergo neurological and cognitive testing, with the results released to the public. If he does poorly, he needs to withdraw his candidacy, but the question will also arise whether he needs to resign from the presidency.
He can avoid this scenario by withdrawing now. He only needs to say that he does not have the physical strength to be both a candidate and the president, and can save the country more trauma.
Sidney Weissman
Highland Park, Ill.
The writer is clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Northwestern University/Feinberg School of Medicine.
To the Editor:
The most ludicrous example of Donald Trump’s galactic ego was expressed in his astonishing claim, “I alone can fix this!”
But in his interview with George Stephanopoulos, President Biden essentially said: “I alone can beat Donald Trump!” And his closest advisers appear to be codependents in this fantastical claim.
The Democratic Party is blessed with amazing elected officials ready and able to defeat Mr. Trump. And a nation of agitated voters of all political stripes is yearning to feel enthusiasm and optimism about supporting a fresh team of candidates.
This is the moment to dramatically revive democracy in America. Paradoxically, Joe Biden really is the only one who can do it. But only by stepping aside to let it happen.
Eliot Daley
Princeton, N.J.
