By Anders Lorenzen

When Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States of America in January 2021, he brought a sense of stability to not only the US but the rest of the world. The world and the US desperately needed a grown-up at The White House following the four years of chaos in the Trump presidency that made the government look more like the Wild West or a bad Clint Eastwood Western film. 

President Biden has achieved a remarkable amount in the past four years, not least in terms of climate and clean energy. Of course, undoing Trump’s attack on climate policy and diplomacy has been crucial. The adoption of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is an unbelievable piece of policy work. 

There are many things on climate and energy the Biden Administration did not get right, on many occasions, they were not ambitious enough, and too kind to the fossil fuel industry.

But this article is not going to analyse the presidents’ achievements on climate and clean energy, this will come in due course. Much more urgent is what will happen in the ballot box come three months time.

The only sensible thing is for Biden to step aside and not contest the election, while there is still time, and allow another candidate to take on Trump. This is not a judgment on the president’s policies, but the fact that Biden being defeated by Trump is becoming an ever more realistic proposition.

The way out

Biden is well known for his gaffes, but anyone who has seen any of the president’s recent public communications can be in doubt that his health is significantly declining and purely from a health perspective he does not seem fit to serve in any full-time job, and not least the job of leading the US government for the next four years. The president’s supporters would argue anyone can have a bad debate. But let’s be honest it is more than that, literally every time he opens his mouth it is littered with mistakes. Whether it is referring to his vice-president as vice-president Trump instead of vice-president Harris or citing government data, getting muddled in the numbers.

The reality is that the longer Biden stays on the more he is enabling a Trump Presidency, a presidency that would not only undo all the things Biden has done in office but significantly erode the US to a level not seen before the Declaration of Independence was signed by the Founding Fathers in 1776. 

If Biden decides to cling on, it will be an act of self-interest as well as self-harm and he will be seen to consider the interest of the country secondary and his legacy will be tarnished. He can resign now and be known as a hero for stabilising the country after the chaos brought on by Trump.

In my view Biden does not need to completely remove himself from government, he can still offer immense value as a key adviser and offer his valuable experience and influence – but he should not be the face of the government. If a situation where he and Kamala Harris were to swap sides and he took on the much less high-profile role as vice-president – a role he knows extremely well as he performed it during the Obama years, he can give Harris the support she needs and focus on his strengths and not expose his weaknesses.

We need Biden to step aside now, for the sake of democracy and tackling the climate crisis.