Rob Reiner has joined the voices calling for President Joe Biden to bow out of the 2024 presidential race, following a disastrous debate performance and an interview that left viewers unconvinced Biden had what it takes to even potentially beat Donald Trump. “It’s time to stop f–king around,” the director tweeted Sunday. “If the Convicted Felon wins, we lose our Democracy. Joe Biden has effectively served US with honor, decency, and dignity. It’s time for Joe Biden to step down.”
Reiner is a longtime donor to the Democratic Party and open about his political beliefs. He’s among the highest-profile Hollywood Democrats to come out in favor of Biden’s exit from the campaign, as acclaimed showrunner Damon Lindelof also did this past week.
In a February interview with The Guardian, Reiner said, “The question at this election is: do we want to continue 249 years of self-rule and American democracy? Or do we want to turn it over to somebody like Donald Trump who has said that he wants to destroy the constitution, go after his political enemies and turn America into an autocracy?”
“We see autocracy making its move around the world. And so if we crumble, there’s a danger that democracy crumbles around the world,” Reiner added.
In the same interview, he revealed that when asked by the FBI if he knew any members of the Communist Party in the 1950s, his father [actor Carl Reiner] retorted, “I probably do, but if I did I wouldn’t tell you.” His mother, actress and singer Estelle Reiner, organized a peace group against the Vietnam War.
Reiner is not the only party donor who has called for Biden to leave the race. Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings told ABC News, “Biden is unfortunately in denial about his mental state. He needs to step aside to let a vigorous Democratic leader beat Trump.”
Ahead of Biden’s interview with ABC News on Friday, former PayPal CEO Bill Harris announced he’s pledged $2 million to the new political action committee Democrats for the Next Generation, with the intent of supporting several debates among contenders for the nomination if Biden ends his campaign.
On Saturday, real estate developer Rick Caruso tweeted in response to a Los Angeles Times piece that urged Biden to leave the race, “I deeply respect Joe Biden’s lifetime of service to our country. But the argument @LATstevelopez makes in this column is the right one. In this critical time, in this vital election, stepping aside is the right and honorable thing for President Biden to do.”
Despite those calls, a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll published Saturday indicated that Biden is enjoying his strongest polling to date in key battleground states. In the new polls, Trump edged out Biden by just 2% in states that are crucial to victory in November. He leads in Michigan and Wisconsin and is within the poll’s statistical margin of error in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.
