1. United States
2. N.Y.
3. Letter

After the disastrous presidential debate where we all saw President Biden’s difficulties speaking, holding his train of thought, or prosecuting the case against his opponent, he needed to do three things right away. He needed to be honest with us about it - to own it and discuss it; he needed to show us he’s got the energy to campaign and continue leading the free world for four more years; and he needed to show us the cognitive gaps were transitory and unusual. In other words he needed to demonstrate candor, vigor, and cogency, and he needed to do it right away. He did none of those things. Instead, he and his campaign denied and hid their heads in the sand. They belittled and bullied those of us who expressed the widespread concern. And they waited far too long to get him back out in front of the people, and did it in tightly controlled situations. No matter what they do now, these two weeks have already sunk the president’s reelection bid. Every day we’ll be holding our breath and hoping, and the other side will be blasting out footage and memes of him staring blankly, trailing off vacantly, or saying things like “we finally beat Medicaid.” Every gaffe will reignite the cognitive debate. And he, and down ballot democrats, will lose to the couch. It’s time for Kamala Harris.