No he didn't. The whole "Joe Biden transitional candidate who won't run for a second term" story was invented from whole cloth by Politico and then the neoliberal media just went with it to try to mollify worried progressives who didn't want a conservative president for 8 years.
Biden never said any such thing, refuted it whenever asked, and stubbornly held on for a month for his own sake when it became clear to even most of his most ardent supporters that he was bound to lose and needed to go.
This phony celebration of Biden as heroically self-sacrificing is just cringy and weird.
While I doubt it was planned that way, Biden holding off resulted in some funny trump hissy fits and helped show him up as the weird old man that he is.
Timing that a 50yr+ politician like Joe would understand how to use.
My conspiracy is that he opted to leave earlier than advertised, but kept up the public face just to trap Trump. It wouldn't be the first time he's pulled some excellent bullshit to get something done.
Not only just to trap Trump, but also to coalesce everyone behind a successor candidate. Because the only thing worse than Biden staying in the race would have been him dropping out and then a dozen Democrat candidates popping up, vying for the nomination, barely 5 months before the election. Further infighting would have handed the election to the weirdos.
I think this could be a consideration. I also like how it’s a taste of what a short election cycle could look like.
All the other democracies have weeks or possible months to campaign. We have 2+ fucking years of this garbage. It’s exhausting and a total waste of time, money, and governing opportunity.
That's not fair. A president giving up power is a big deal. It shows integrity. Do you see Trump EVER doing anything even remotely as selfless?
Biden didn't have to step down. He could have driven everything into the ground to hold on to power, which btw pretty much any other politican WOULD have, but he didn't.
The end of American democracy is a much bigger deal
Do you see Trump EVER doing anything even remotely as selfless?
That's such a low bar that you need professional digging equipment to even find it.
Biden didn't have to step down
Yes he did. He was about to lose what could become the last presidential election ever and almost nobody had any confidence in him anymore.
He could have driven everything into the ground to hold on to power
Again, SUPER low bar! Where's my medal for not burning an orphanage to the ground?
which btw pretty much any other politican WOULD have
Who hurt you? You must have been subjected to some REAL shit if this is the amount of confidence you have in your fellow humans..
but he didn't
He stubbornly tried to for a month until the rich donors and their representative Nancy Pelosi basically forced him out. He doesn't deserve credit for extremely reluctantly giving up after intense pressure from everyone who's got a vested interest in Trump losing.