'His achievements stand up': Journalist who urged Biden not to run again makes a case for a second term

In an op-ed published by USA Today in June 2022, journalist Jill Lawrence argued against President Joe Biden seeking a second term. Lawrence applauded Biden from a policy standpoint, describing him as "sharp and running the show" and noting his record with Ukraine, the United States' "booming job market" and COVID-19 vaccines.

The journalist also praised Biden for nominating the U.S. Supreme Court's first Black female justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson. But while Lawrence generally believed Biden was doing a good job as president, she also expressed concerns about his age. Biden was 79 at the time and is now 80, and Lawrence — herself a self-described Baby Boomer — argued that a younger Democrat should have a shot at the White House in 2024.

Lawrence has since changed her mind. In a think piece published by the conservative website The Bulwark on July 12, Lawrence makes an in-depth Biden/Donald Trump comparison and argues that Biden, for the good of the country, needs to win reelection in 2024. And she says she has "made peace" with Biden's age.

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"At this point," Lawrence writes, "a free-for-all Democratic primary would wreak tremendous damage on the party and its odds of success. And judged purely on the merits, Biden, his team, and their achievements stand up well or better against any recent president's record. To appreciate what he brings to the job, one only needs to imagine Trump handing Ukraine to Vladimir Putin, still struggling to pass an infrastructure bill, showing off top secret Iran war plans to guests, and triggering fears of nuclear war with North Korea."

Trump, Lawrence adds, is inundated with legal problems that include two criminal indictments — and an investigation by Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis may result in a third this summer.

One of the ageist party lines in right-wing MAGA media is that Biden is senile and mentally impaired. But an article published by Axios on July 10, Lawrence notes, paints a picture of Biden as anything but senile. That Alex Thompson article depicted Biden as a very focused and driven workaholic who can be quite demanding and impatient with members of his administration — a major contrast to the folksy image he is careful to project in public.

Lawrence points out that Axios' article "conveys a highly engaged president with a lot of questions he wants answered," adding, "I guess you could say I've made my peace with Biden and his age."

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Read Jill Lawrence's entire article for The Bulwark at this link.