The Democrats should remove Joe Biden from office

In a sense, Democrats ought to be relieved. After his calamitous presidential debate, Joe Biden delivered one of his most embarrassing gaffes on Thursday, when he introduced Volodymyr Zelensky as ‘President Putin’, and called Kamala Harris ‘Vice President Trump’.

These howlers – which could have been mistaken for hard-right disinformation – are incontrovertible evidence the Democrats need to remove Biden from the ticket. The President’s inner circle, which has stubbornly defended Biden’s health and argued that the debate was an anomaly, have no arguments left. Democrat donors and members of the party establishment are publicly and privately calling for Biden to give up the nomination. 

Biden’s age and mental acuity have been important considerations for voters, and they were brought to prominence in February by the Hur report. The report, which concluded the investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents when he left the vice-presidency, described him as a ‘sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory’.