In announcing he would no longer be the Democrats’ presidential candidate on Sunday, Joe Biden professed he was doing so because he believed it “in the best interest of [his] party and the country.” While Biden did not elaborate further on his reasoning, he promised to address the country later this week with more details about his decision.

When he eventually addresses the nation, Biden will likely portray himself as a modern-day hero, withdrawing from the race to protect America from the existential threat of Donald Trump. Whether Biden mentions his horrible debate performance remains to be seen, but if he does, the president will surely frame the spectacle as he has over the last three weeks: as a mistake, a bad night, or caused by jet lag or by Trump’s off-mic interruptions. Left unsaid will be the fact that party insiders and Democrat mega-donors forced Biden to step down out of fear Trump would win the presidency again.

These reasons, however, are all misdirection, seeking to distract the country from what they witnessed during the debate: a commander-in-chief suffering from a mental incapacity.

Yes, the public spectacle of the president’s cognitive impairment prompted Democrats to conclude Biden could not win reelection, and the conclusion that Biden could not win reelection led to his withdrawal from the race. But why Biden bowed out as the Democrat candidate — or why Biden or others claim he did — isn’t significant. 

Instead, what matters is that Biden lacks a stable mental capacity. That matters because a man lacking in lucidity, even if only at times, cannot discharge the powers and duties of the office of president. As I wrote after the debate, “Whether caused by age, dementia, or Alzheimer’s matters not. The president of the United States cannot discharge his duties if he lacks lucidity for even a fraction of the day. The commander-in-chief must be able to command the executive branch 24-7.”

Biden’s withdrawal as a candidate is not enough; he must resign from the presidency, or the cabinet must invoke the 25th Amendment.

Democrats and their media lapdogs may pretend otherwise, acting as if Biden merely lacks the stamina to campaign and that his frailty does not affect his ability to serve as commander-in-chief. But during the debate, Biden wasn’t lacking in vigor. He was lacking in lucidity.

Soon after the debate, big-time Democrat booster George Clooney confirmed Biden’s mental incapacity by announcing that the man he saw at a June fundraiser “was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.” Speaking of the debate, Clooney told Democrat Party leaders in his New York Times op-ed to stop saying “that 51 million people didn’t see what we just saw.”

Yet Democrats — including Joe Biden — and the media will pretend the country only witnessed a frail elderly man. 

Not so.

During the debate, Biden unmistakably showed he was lacking in mental competency. That disturbing performance confirmed the numerous earlier instances in which Americans saw a cognitively challenged president. 

Add to those facts Special Counsel Robert Hur’s conclusion that Biden would “likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” Hur’s report further detailed Biden’s shocking memory lapses and recommended against charging the president for mishandling classified documents. And Attorney General Merrick Garland’s refusal to release the audio recording of Hur’s interviews with Biden only cements the perception that the tape is even worse than the special counsel portrayed.

Notwithstanding the press’s initial coverage of Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance, the media didn’t find journalism. Now, with the president out of the race, reporters will revert to covering for him. Americans, though, know the truth — that President Biden is mentally incapacitated. Sadly, so do our enemies.

Margot Cleveland is an investigative journalist and legal analyst and serves as The Federalist’s senior legal correspondent. Margot’s work has been published at The Wall Street Journal, The American Spectator, the New Criterion, National Review Online, Townhall.com, the Daily Signal, USA Today, and the Detroit Free Press. She is also a regular guest on nationally syndicated radio programs and on Fox News, Fox Business, and Newsmax. Cleveland is a lawyer and a graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, where she earned the Hoynes Prize—the law school’s highest honor. She later served for nearly 25 years as a permanent law clerk for a federal appellate judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Cleveland is a former full-time university faculty member and now teaches as an adjunct from time to time. Cleveland is also of counsel for the New Civil Liberties Alliance. Cleveland is on Twitter at @ProfMJCleveland where you can read more about her greatest accomplishments—her dear husband and dear son. The views expressed here are those of Cleveland in her private capacity.