EDITORIAL: West needs ‘leader of the free world’ to step up

How much longer can the Democrats continue with the charade that Joe Biden is fit for office?

Their insistence that his terrifying incoherent performance during last week’s presidential debate against Republic candidate Donald Trump has gone beyond wishful thinking or innocent delusion, and has crossed the line to blatant gaslighting — an attempted con job not just on Americans, but the entire Western world.

In isolation, none of Mr Biden’s flubs of pronunciation, missteps of memory or moments of rhetorical disorientation are worthy of alarm. But together, they paint a picture of an elderly man who has lost his mental acuity.

Yet his White House allies insist that his muddled and meandering performance on Thursday was a one-off. Just 90 bad minutes in the career of a man who has proven over decades in politics that he has what it takes. And after all, he’s always been a little bit gaffe-prone, disposed to stumbling over his words and mixing up his Egyptian presidents with the Mexican ones.

But despite their efforts to deride speculation about Mr Biden’s mental fitness as ageist rabble-rousing, panic is rising among those he needs to support him.

Mr Biden’s Democratic colleagues are beginning to break ranks to speak out publicly.

“What we need right now — and what I think takes a spine — is to step aside and recognise the president of the United States doesn’t have the vigour necessary to overcome the deficit here and it’s going to affect us all,” Illinois Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley said on Friday.

Behind the scenes, agitation is growing too. They’re beginning to concede — finally — that Mr Biden cannot win against Mr Trump. One solution would be for Mr Biden to step down before the election, handing the presidency to Vice President Kamala Harris. That would afford her the strength of incumbency, and perhaps allow her to ride the momentum she would get from becoming the first woman to lead the US.

The fact is the world is at a critical juncture. Democracy no longer seems like a sure thing, even in nations where not so long ago it seemed beyond doubt. Autocrats are tightening their grip and the Western world lacks a clear leader.

The United Kingdom’s new Labour Government, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, may have been elected in a landslide, but the raw numbers show a different story. Labour only received 34 per cent of the overall vote, hardly a resounding result.

France is staring down the barrel of weeks of political uncertainty after elections there resulted in an intractably hung parliament.

Now, more than just about any other time in recent history, there is a need for the “leader of the free world” to step up.

For the past century, that’s a role that has been filled by the president of the USA. Now, we’re facing a leadership vacuum.

The 81-year-old Mr Biden, however, says only “Lord Almighty” will convince him to end his re-election bid.

Let’s all pray that divine intervention comes soon.