Joe Biden Must Resign or He Must Be Constitutionally Removed

President Joe Biden announced that he would end his campaign. That he did so via X (formerly Twitter), on his own letterhead rather than on White House stationary and that he remains unseen only raises speculation that he is more unwell than administration and campaign spokesmen suggest. Indeed, his team has leveraged credibility with the public. There is no reconciling his poor debate performance with months if not years of assurance by Biden’s team that rumors about Biden’s health were false.

Should Biden have Parkinson’s, dementia, or some other degenerative mental condition, his withdrawal is the right thing to do. Videos suggest Biden has neither the acuity nor stamina to campaign. His assurance that he will retire to bed by 8 pm do not give confidence, given the likelihood that he will learn about international crises in a 3 am phone call.

The question, as lawyer John Turley notes, is how Biden can be too unwell to campaign but still be well enough to be president. After all, the presidency is among the world’s most stressful jobs. Endurance and energy are prerequisites.

The conditions triggering the 25th Amendment should be objective. There is no gradation to differentiate between the stress of a campaign and the far greater vigor necessary for the presidency.

Make no mistake: America’s enemies are on high alert, not because they sense danger from America but rather because they recognize unprecedented opportunity. So long as Biden remains at the helm, they buy minutes if not hours or days to any American reaction to aggression. The tier of principals under Biden do not fill the gap. On the international stage, adversaries see Secretary of State Antony Blinken as effeminate, effete, and irresolute. Jake Sullivan’s arrogance and aloofness are no substitute for experience. He continues to view the world through Ivy League and Oxford theories rather than the politically incorrect realities that foreign intelligence services, militaries, and terrorists operate. Director of Central Intelligence Bill Burns likewise has never escaped the diplomatic mindset and has focused his tenure in Langley more on how to jump ship to Foggy Bottom and less on defeating rogues. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III, himself, is on the periphery of Biden’s inner circle, and is more prone to receive policy in a crisis than to shape it.

Sharks may circle in the water when a swimmer has a bleeding hangnail; they would see Biden as thrashing amputee.

The world does not revolve around the American political calendar nor do rogues take a pause because White House aides and Democratic politicos wish a smooth coronation for Vice President Kamala Harris or whomever comes out of an open convention.

If Democrats cannot provide a strong commander because Biden chose a vice president based on race and gender rather than ability, so be it. Virtue signaling has a cost. Harris, at least, is cogent. She can make decisions around the clock when a crisis emerges.

If Joe Biden does not resign, the damage rogues and revisionists can do while the commander-in-chief is confused, demented, exhausted, or asleep is incalculable. If Biden does not resign from the presidency, it is time constitutionally to remove him.

About the Author: Dr. Michael Rubin

Michael Rubin is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and director of policy analysis at the Middle East Forum.