Political media across the spectrum devoted wall-to-wall news coverage and analysis of President Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. Depending on what outlet you watched, the decision was either exceptionally honorable or evidence of a “coup” by Democratic politicians.
Liberal sites and publications largely saluted Mr. Biden as a hero, even calling him “patriotic.” Commentators supported his decision to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee and portrayed the Democratic Party as unifying around her.
Conservative outlets were predictably more critical of Mr. Biden’s presidential legacy and his decision. Some said Democrats’ entreaties to him, encouraging his withdrawal, suggested the decision was a “coup” by party elites. Commentators also attacked his mental fitness and called for him to step down from the presidency immediately, months before the conclusion of his term.
Here’s how the news was covered by several outlets:
FROM THE LEFT
MSNBC
A growing chorus of Democratic politicians had been lobbying the president to withdraw from his electoral campaign. But on Sunday, the frustration expressed publicly and privately for weeks gave way to unambiguous praise of Mr. Biden’s decision and legacy.
That sentiment was echoed by the coverage from more than a dozen liberal publications. One headline on HuffPost called Mr. Biden’s decision a “patriot act,” in all caps. Salon said Mr. Biden stepping aside “shows us the meaning of unity.” And The New Republic said his decision was “the final twist” of a “surprisingly great presidency.”
Commentators on MSNBC effusively praised Mr. Biden for his decision to step aside and endorse Ms. Harris, even as it remained unclear who would become the Democratic Party’s new nominee.
“I love him, I love his family and I love what he’s done for the country,” Mika Brzezinski, the co-host of “Morning Joe,” said on Monday. “He had authenticity and touch, whether you saw it or not.”
Rachel Maddow, who also hosts a show on the network, called Mr. Biden’s decision an “act of profound political and personal sacrifice,” and said that the Democratic Party’s “harrowing” internal fight over choosing a new nominee was over, allowing the party to change the narrative of the election.
“The expectation that the Democratic Party was in for a historic wipeout in November, with not just the White House in danger, but the House and the Senate, that expectation evaporates also,” Ms. Maddow said on Sunday.
FROM THE LEFT
The Nation
The Nation, a left-leaning news and commentary website, used Mr. Biden’s decision to draw a contrast with Republicans and their candidate, former President Donald J. Trump. Joan Walsh, a national affairs correspondent for the site, said Mr. Biden’s decision took “courage and vision.”
Jeet Heer, also a national affairs correspondent for The Nation, wrote Monday that Mr. Biden’s decision to step down showed that, unlike Republicans, who have seemed steadfast in their loyalty to Mr. Trump, Democrats were not “a personality cult.” Instead, he suggested, the party was unified around a common goal of defeating Mr. Trump.
“The Democrats are a wonderfully diverse coalition,” Mr. Heer said. “But they are united in their proper horror of Trump and Trumpism.”
FROM THE RIGHT
Fox News
Some conservative commentators said Mr. Biden’s decision was politically expedient, given his lagging support. Many also called for him to resign the presidency immediately, echoing comments from Mr. Trump on his social media site, Truth Social, suggesting that Mr. Biden couldn’t be president if he couldn’t run for re-election.
Some commentators on Fox News, which has frequently attacked Mr. Biden’s cognitive fitness since the debate, embraced the idea that the Democratic Party had acted undemocratically by persuading Mr. Biden to move off the ticket after he won the primary. Sean Hannity, the conservative host, opened his show Sunday by saying that “democracy is dead in the Democratic Party” after “Democratic elites” pushed Mr. Biden “to the curb.”
“Let us simply state the obvious: If Joe Biden is not capable of handling the rigors of a campaign, which almost every Democrat is admitting to, then he certainly is not capable of fulfilling the duties of president of our country,” Mr. Hannity said, adding that Mr. Biden should “leave the White House this week and never come back.”
Commentators on the network also criticized Ms. Harris. Laura Ingraham, the host of “The Ingraham Angle,” said the vice president was “incompetent” and that “no one who truly wants the best for the American people would ever subject us to someone like Kamala Harris.”
Jesse Watters, another host, baselessly claimed that Ms. Harris was complicit in obfuscating the effects of Mr. Biden’s age from the public.
“The entire Biden presidency was a cover-up,” Jesse Watters, the host of “Jesse Watters Primetime,” said. “They got exposed on debate night, and now they want to pick another puppet?”
FROM THE RIGHT
National Review
National Review, a conservative outlet that has frequently criticized both Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump, published several stories excoriating Mr. Biden and his legacy.
In an article with the headline “The End of an Error,” Jim Geraghty, a senior political correspondent, said that Mr. Biden was in “much, much rougher shape” than White House officials had said. He pilloried Mr. Biden for deceiving Americans about his mental and physical fitness.
The site’s editorial board called on Mr. Biden to resign the presidency, citing his poor debate performance and reports that he had not held a full cabinet meeting in months. The board also wrote that Mr. Biden has been “confused in public,” though without citing specific examples.
“The country deserves to have complete assurance that the president of the United States, whatever his party or ideology, is fully in possession of his faculties,” the editors of the site wrote.
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