Stephen Colbert says Joe Biden should “self-sacrifice” and step down as presidential candidate

Stephen Colbert has added his voice to those encouraging Joe Biden to stand down from the 2024 US presidential election race.

The president performed poorly in the first debate against Donald Trump on June 27, appearing to lose his way several times, causing many of his supporters to call into question his ability to continue in the fight for the White House.

In Colbert’s first Late Night show since the debate, he said watching Biden’s disastrous performance “took a year off my life”.

“I think that this is actually a battle of two virtues,” Colbert continued. “One of them is perseverance. Biden is famous for that.”

“There’s another competing virtue, and that is self-sacrifice, and self-sacrifice takes a particular kind of courage. And that is a courage I believe Joe Biden is capable of.”

“I believe he’s a good enough man. He is a good enough president to put the needs of the country ahead of the needs of his ego. And however painful that might be, it is possible that handing leadership to a younger generation is the right thing for the greater good,” he concluded.

Several other prominent figures have urged Biden to step aside, including Stephen King, a well-known Democrat supporter.

“Joe Biden has been a fine president, but it’s time for him—in the interests of the America he so clearly loves—to announce he will not run for re-election,” the horror novelist wrote on social media.

Similarly, When Harry Met Sally… director Rob Reiner, 77 shared his concerns about Biden’s physical competence for the upcoming election.

“If the Convicted Felon wins, we lose our Democracy. Joe Biden has effectively served US with honour, decency, and dignity. It’s time for Joe Biden to step down,” Reiner wrote on X.

Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof is another calling for Biden to step down: “Biden has to go & the Dems need to wake up,” he wrote in a column for Deadline.

“When Joe finally leaves the mound, I will stand and applaud. Because he truly pitched a great game,” he added.

Cardi B also criticised Biden recently despite having pledged her support to Biden in the past, saying her feelings on him had changed due to his stance on Palestine and his inaction over the economy.

“I feel like people got betrayed,” she told Rolling Stone in May. “It’s just like, ‘Damn, y’all not caring about nobody.’ Then, it really gets me upset that there is solutions to it. There is a solution. I know there’s a solution because you’re spending billions of dollars on any fucking thing.”

Nevertheless, Biden remains defiant about running in the election. In an open letter sent to Democrats yesterday (July 8), the president said he was “firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump”.

He also said he’d had “extensive conversations with the leadership of the party, elected officials, rank and file members and most importantly Democratic voters” and that he had “heard the concerns that people have – their good faith fears and worries about what is at stake in this election. I am not blind to them.”

He added: “I wouldn’t be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024…We had a Democratic nomination process and the voters have spoken clearly and decisively.

“The voters — and the voters alone — decide the nominee of the Democratic Party.

“The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it’s time for it to end. We have one job. And that is to beat Donald Trump. Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task head only helps Trump and hurts us.”

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