For Boomers Reluctant To Retire, The Calls For Biden To Step Down Hit Home

Two weeks after his disastrous debate performance, President Joe Biden is facing a dilemma countless older workers have experienced: Outside pressure to retire.

The calls for Biden to step aside and let a new nominee challenge former President Donald Trump in November’s general election reached a tipping point this week. On Wednesday, actor and Democratic donor George Clooney questioned Biden’s electability on account of his age in a widely shared New York Times opinion piece — just weeks after the actor had headlined a major fundraiser for Biden.

He’s not the only voter discomforted by Biden as a nominee: Two in three adults say the president should step aside, including more than seven in 10 independent voters, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll.

While Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have reiterated that “they’re with Joe,” a small but growing number of Democratic lawmakers have called for the 81-year-old to drop out or have otherwise voiced their reservations.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ― a top name being floated as a potential Biden replacement ― said Wednesday that “it wouldn’t hurt” for Biden to take a cognitive test.

The message, at least from those making full-throated pleas for Biden to step down, tends to gosomething like this: “You’ve done an enormous service to your country. Now is the time to help shepherd a new generation of leadership to take command.”

(Similar pressure to retire was put to the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Dianne Feinstein, as well as on Mitch McConnell, who has agreed to step down from Senate leadership in November.)

Still, no one wants to feel forced out of the job. For Boomers who say they’re reluctant to retire, or those who can’t