The New York Times editorial board called on President Biden to step aside as the Democratic nominee, saying it is the “greatest public service” he can perform, but added that it will endorse him if he remains the nominee. 

In an unprecedented and scathing op-ed, The New York Times said Mr. Biden appeared on the debate stage against former President Donald Trump as “the shadow of a great public servant.” 

“He struggled to explain what he would accomplish in a second term. He struggled to respond to Mr. Trump’s provocations. He struggled to hold Mr. Trump accountable for his lies, his failures and his chilling plans. More than once, he struggled to make it to the end of a sentence,” the typically left-leaning editorial board wrote. 

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The editorial came less than 24 hours after a disastrous debate performance in which Mr. Biden struggled to complete his thoughts, had little energy and gave rambling, meandering answers. 

Since the widely criticized debate performance, only a handful of Biden backers have publicly urged the president to step aside as nominee. However, those calls increased Friday afternoon and into the early evening. 

The editorial board praised Mr. Biden’s leadership and accomplishments in the Oval Office. Still, it said his continued candidacy is a “reckless gamble” that “risks the stability and security of the country.” 

“To make a call for a new Democratic nominee this late in a campaign is a decision not taken lightly, but it reflects the scale and seriousness of Mr. Trump’s challenge to the values and institutions of this country and the inadequacy of Mr. Biden to confront him,” the op-ed said.

The board said concerns about Mr.Biden’s cognitive abilities cannot be dismissed as one bad night or blamed on a cold because questions about his mental acuity have been piling up for months and years. The Times said other public appearances cannot outweigh last night’s performance because they are so tightly controlled by Mr. Biden’s handlers.

Compounding the situation, the Times said, is that the Biden campaign challenged Mr. Trump to the debate and insisted on the rules.

“He understood that he needed to address longstanding public concerns about his mental acuity and that he needed to do so as soon as possible,” the Times wrote. “The truth Mr. Biden needs to confront now is that he failed his own test.”

The paper called on Democrats to start speaking “plain truths” about Mr. Biden’s future as the nominee, saying it is the best chance to protect the nation from Mr. Trump. 

“The clearest path for Democrats to defeat a candidate defined by his lies is to deal truthfully with the American public: acknowledge that Mr. Biden can’t continue his race, and create a process to select someone more capable to stand in his place to defeat Mr. Trump in November,” the board wrote.