‘Do the right thing, Joe!’: Progressive pundit Cenk Uygur says Biden is putting his ‘ego’ before the country and calls him ‘extremely selfish’ by running for president – and demands he ‘step aside for the next generation’
Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks denounces Joe Biden’s plans to be re-elected in 2024 and labels them, among other things, “selfish” in a series of scathing messages on social media.
Uygur’s tirade, shared on Friday and Saturday on by resigning.
The response comes months after the political pundit expressed hope that a Democrat would oppose the 80-year-old incumbent president during a May taping of his popular progressive program after news of the reelection bid was confirmed.
It also comes amid a period of unprecedented decline in the Democratic ranks — as an overwhelming number of people have said they would prefer a name other than Biden’s at the top of their list.
Citing statistics to back this up, the 53-year-old Uygur began his tirade by rhetorically asking his more than half a million followers – many of whom are likely liberal-aligned – what their position was on the issue.
Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks denounces Joe Biden’s plans to be re-elected in 2024 and labels them, among other things, “selfish” in a series of scathing messages on social media.
Uygur’s tirade, shared on Friday and Saturday on by resigning.
Joe Biden says he’s running for president again. So? the longtime web host wrote in one of many highly critical tweets from the Democratic Party’s top candidate.
Why should every Democrat listen to him? Why is it assumed by everyone in Washington that dissent is not allowed against anyone in power? What a strange assumption. I do not agree with it. Two-thirds of Democratic voters disagree.”
The latter statement was supported by a recent study released Thursday by CNN, in which the famed progressive news outlet found that two out of three respondents do not think Democrats should nominate Biden for a second time.
Other studies have found more of the same, with a new Wall Street Journal poll taken from August 24 to 30, showing that only 36 percent of 1,500 voters think Biden is mentally fit for office.
By comparison, 46 percent expressed the belief that Trump — who has emerged as the frontrunner for the Republican Party despite four pending criminal cases — is more mentally competent for the job.
The same poll found that 75 percent of voters think Biden is too old for such an outsized responsibility at nearly 81 — compared to just 47 percent who feel the same about Trump.
A series of similarly pointed comments followed – some of which included the hashtag “#DropOut” and another linked to a petition organized by Young Turks regarding the future election of the president.
To make his point, Uygur cited statistics from the August ABC News/Ipsos poll, which found that nearly half of Americans, at 49 percent, believe DC’s federal indictment against Trump should disqualify him from running for president.
Uygur pointed out that even with that stunning sample set, most polls have Biden and Trump neck and neck for a seemingly inevitable rematch in 2024 — statistics he said liberals like him should be ashamed of.
How bad is Joe Biden as a candidate that 51% of Americans think Trump should be disqualified from running for president – and Biden is still tied to him?
“He can’t even lock up someone who the majority of the country believes shouldn’t even have the chance to run for office,” he wrote.
In another post, the Turkish-American commentator snapped: “The way every official in the Democratic Party accepts that it has to be Biden just because he says so is simply stupid. And authoritarian.
“If this is the most important election of our lifetimes, why would we go in with a wounded antelope,” he claimed. ‘Force him to lose weight.’
A series of similarly pointed comments followed, one of which simply included the hashtag “#DropOut.”
It comes amid a period of unprecedented decline in the Democrats’ ranks — as many have said they would prefer a name other than Biden’s at the top of their ticket.
The White House continues to maintain that he is physically and mentally ready for another five years in the role — meaning he would be 86 by the time he leaves office. Biden has not yet released any plans to abandon his re-election plans.
Another linked to a petition on the Young Turks website calling on Biden to “bow out” of the race, while another claimed that “this is precisely the authoritarian attitude that is causing losses for the party.”
He wrote in that message: “This basically means that the DNC values listening to Biden’s orders over winning the Democrats.”
In another, the outspoken Democrat asked what he considered a “real” question before declaring that the situation shows the US’s serious problems.
“Do people really think that there isn’t a single Democrat in the country besides Biden who can beat Trump? Because the people who think that are inadvertently saying that the party is in disastrous shape.
‘I do not agree with it. I think almost every other Democrat will win easily.
Part of the petition, which has 1,751 signatures as of Sunday, reads: “President Joe Biden has had a long and historic career in American government.
“He saved us from the possibility of a second Trump term and we appreciate his service to the country. But right now we need a strong, healthy candidate to ensure we prevent a fascist takeover of our government.”
“Dear Mr. President, please do the right thing and bow with dignity so that we can move on to the next generation of Democratic leaders – and so that we can defeat Donald Trump and the radical Republicans.”
Biden announced his bid for a second term with Vice President Kamala Harris in late April — but questions have arisen over the past year about whether the president is too old or unfit to serve four more years.
Only 40 percent of respondents in the WSJ survey say Biden has a strong performance record. But 51 percent say the same about Trump’s first term.
Infrastructure is the only policy area where American voters approve of Biden’s job performance. Meanwhile, their disapproval outweighs approval in areas such as the economy, inflation and cost of living, border security, China and the war in Ukraine.
Age has become a central issue in the 2024 presidential race, with candidate Nikki Haley suggesting earlier this year that there should be an age limit for those who can run for the White House – much to the chagrin of Democrats at the time.
She said 75 would be a good limit – one exceeded by both parties as front-runners.
Aside from as many as two-thirds of Democrats, several other figures have spoken out in recent months to express the belief that Biden — currently the oldest acting president ever — is too old for another four years in office.
Author Franklin Foer, who wrote a biography of Biden’s first two years as president, said Sunday that he would not be “totally shocked” if the president dropped out of the race before the end of the year.
When NBC Meet the Press host Chuck Todd asked Sunday how he would respond if Biden decided not to complete his 2024 bid, Foer said, “It would be a surprise to me. But it wouldn’t be a total surprise.’
Citing statements like these, Uygur wrote on Friday: It’s refreshing to see that not everyone on the left has gone crazy in the DC bubble.
‘Of course not attacking your opponent is a HORRIBLE strategy!! Politics is a marketing battle. Not taking up that fight is political malpractice… it’s Biden 101.”
The White House continues to maintain that he is physically and mentally ready for another five years in the role — meaning he would be 86 by the time he leaves office.
Biden has not yet released any plans to abandon his re-election plans.