NYT reporter puts distance between himself and editorial calling for Biden to step aside
During an appearance on MSNBC on Saturday afternoon, New York Times chief White House correspondent Peter Baker was cornered by host Alex Witt over an editorial published by his paper on Friday that called for President Joe Biden to drop his bid for re-election.
The controversial proposal from the editorial board came less than 24 hours after Biden's poor performance on a CNN stage where he faced Donald Trump, with the editors writing, "the president is engaged in a reckless gamble. There are Democratic leaders better equipped to present clear, compelling and energetic alternatives to a second Trump presidency. There is no reason for the party to risk the stability and security of the country by forcing voters to choose between Mr. Trump’s deficiencies and those of Mr. Biden."
That stance has enraged some, including MSNBC's Michael Steele among others, which led host Witt to put Baker on the spot immediately.
"The editorial board of your paper, the New York Times, is urging President Biden to leave the race," Witt began. "You can see the headline, we are putting it up again. That, as you know, is no small thing. Did it surprise you, Peter, that members made this call so quickly after the debate and what kind of impact this will have?"
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"Well, as your viewers I assume know, there's a difference between the news side of the New York Times and the editorial side," he began. "I have nothing to do with the editorial side, so just so everybody understands this is something completely separate from what I do in terms of reporting."
"But obviously it is an important editorial platform in the country," he conceded before proceeding, "And I think, more importantly, it reflects a lot of conversation among Democrats, put aside the media for a second."
"What you are hearing from people, many of whom have supported very strongly Joe Biden over the years is a great sense of disappointment, a great sense of fear and uncertainty and a great sense that maybe he's not at the point where he can carry this out through the fall much less the next four years," he elaborated. "That, I think, has been an undercurrent among many professional Democrats for a long time but now it's been brought in the open in a way we haven't seen before."
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