Pundits are calling for Biden to drop out. They've got the wrong guy

Following the first presidential debate of 2024, the editorial board of a major American newspaper called on one of the two candidates to drop out of the race. 

“There was only one person at the debate who does not deserve to be running for president,” The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote. “The sooner Trump exits the stage, the better off the country will be.”

Unfortunately, the Inquirer seems to be the only major media outlet to recognize that, while President Joe Biden had a “disaster” of an evening, Donald Trump delivered a “litany of lies, hyperbole, bigotry, ignorance, and fear mongering” that showed he was unfit for office.

That Inquirer editorial was a nice moment of relief from a long weekend in which many editorial boards and political pundits shared their wisdom about how Biden should drop out of the race. Those editorials were full of expressions of sadness over the supposed end of a long career of public service. They were full of hand-wringing and pearl-clutching in defense of democracy or the nation.

But mostly they seemed like a toxic mix of hubris and a dark desire for chaos.