Biden not to run for reelection: 'Alarmingly incoherent'

New York Times columnist Bret Stephens on Tuesday implored President Biden to not seek reelection in 2024 and announce his intentions as soon as possible so potential Democratic contenders could begin making preparations to replace him.

In a piece headlined, "Biden Should Not Run Again — and He Should Say He Won’t," Stephens, a conservative and strong critic of Donald Trump, argued that Biden's age, as well as his seemingly "uneven" cognitive state, needed to be candidly discussed because it wasn't healthy for him, his office, the Democratic Party, or the country to remain in limbo about what to do if he decides not to run. 

Stephens also argued it would be "liberating" for Biden's presidency if he announced he wouldn't run, and that it would energize a currently "listless" Democratic Party.

"Is it a good idea for Joe Biden to run for reelection in 2024? And, if he runs again and wins, would it be good for the United States to have a president who is 86 — the age Biden would be at the end of a second term?" he wrote. "I put these questions bluntly because they need to be discussed candidly, not just whispered constantly."

Stephens noted it was "fair game" for reporters to question former President Ronald Reagan's age in the 1980s after he took office at the age of 69 and won reelection in his 70s, but that it had somehow become "horrible manners" to raise similar concerns about Biden, who turned 79 last month.