Joe Biden’s old neighbor, whose mom used to babysit him, has penned an impassioned letter urging the ‘ancient, pale and fragile’ president to stand down.

Jay Parini, 76, shared the touching letter titled: ‘Dear Joe, it’s time to go’ on Friday to CNN following the US President’s car-crash Thursday debate against former President Donald Trump in Atlanta, Georgia.

The American novelist and academic recalled moments the pair shared as young children, sitting at his mother’s kitchen table when they were neighbors in Scranton, before diving into the 81-year-old’s achievements to date.

He claimed he had been an ‘admirer’ of Biden’s for years, adding he had sent checks, knocked doors, and even written pieces supporting the president.

But despite the good –  the English professor at Middlebury College hammered home that Biden ‘MUST stand down… for your country and your party’.

American novelist and academic Jay Parini wrote a letter to Joe Biden urging him to stand down following his disastrous debate against Donald Trump on CNN, Thursday night  

Joe Biden suffered multiple blows throughout the debate as he stumbled over words and struggled to collect his thoughts

Joe Biden suffered multiple blows throughout the debate as he stumbled over words and struggled to collect his thoughts

After watching Thursday night’s debate – which saw a ‘dazed and confused’ Biden almost ‘groping’ his way to the podium before delivering a ‘halting, often incoherent’ speech – Parini admitted he was left disappointed and ‘weeping’ from the performance.

‘Your jokes fell flat, badly timed, out of context. You let crazy Donald lie with impunity and snicker at your responses,’ Parini wrote.

‘I found myself weeping. Weeping for you. Weeping for our nation’.

President Joe Biden suffered repeated senior moments in Thursday night’s debate, struggling to find his words as he talked on various policy issues – and giving Donald Trump an opening to go straight on the attack. 

In the historic debate that sparked concerns among the Democrats about whether he was fit to run for office, Biden’s first mistake embarrassingly came after just 12 minutes. 

The president sounded hoarse and repeatedly cleared his throat as he jumbled his words, stammered and repeatedly excused himself as he struggled to make himself understood at multiple points. 

He is reported to also have had a cold during the tumultuous 90-minute debate that aired on CNN. 

In response to a Medicare question, Biden produced a faltering, bumbling moment that’s likely to be repeated throughout the campaign: ‘We’ve been making sure we are able to make every single person eligible what I’ve been able to do with the Covid, excuse me, everything we have to do with…look… I finally beat Medicare…’ he trailed off. 

Moderator Jake Tapper stepped in, telling him ‘thank you’ and turning to Donald Trump to let him speak. 

Trump hit back immediately: ‘That’s right, he did beat Medicare, he beat it to death. And he’s destroying Medicare.’ 

Speaking on Biden’s poor health and run-down appearance, Parini continued in his letter: ‘You seemed ancient, pale and fragile’.

‘You let crazy Donald Trump lie with impunity and snicker at your responses’.

President Joe Biden is said to be 'humiliated' and 'painfully aware' of his image following his car crash debate that saw him stumbling over his words and losing his train of thought

President Joe Biden is said to be ‘humiliated’ and ‘painfully aware’ of his image following his car crash debate that saw him stumbling over his words and losing his train of thought

After Biden lost his train of thought at one point and stared ahead blankly, Donald Trump said: 'I really don't know what he just said'

After Biden lost his train of thought at one point and stared ahead blankly, Donald Trump said: ‘I really don’t know what he just said’

He went on to claim democracy is now at stake, highlighting Trump’s attempts to subvert the 2020 election and ‘overthrow our government’ and presenting stark warnings of the consequences the US will face if Trump returns to the White House.

‘He will work to make the public think that global warming is a big hoax, destroying progress in this crucial work of fighting climate change. On and on. Disaster looms,’ he wrote.

‘It’s on you, Joe, to listen to the leaders of your party’. 

But despite Parini’s fears and concerns around Trump’s potential return to power, he emphasized the importance of Biden’s nearest and dearest encouraging him to step down.

‘It’s beyond time for wise heads to surround you with love, Joe. 

‘They must tell you that, for the sake of the country (not to say your own legacy, which is on the brink of ruin): It’s the moment to step down’. 

Ending the impassioned letter with a lighter, less strongly-worded note on how Biden has done his work ‘well’ he urged the president to let the ‘best available Democrat’ come forth and stand against Trump in November.

‘Any of them should be able to wipe the floor with him,’ he wrote.

‘I’m sorry it’s come to this. But it has’.

‘Be the great man you are, Joe, the one we’ve seen in action and admired for many decades. We salute you. It’s tough, I’m sure. But your final act of greatness lies right before you now.

‘Do it. Withdraw’.

Thursday’s debate saw a humiliating swathe of stumbles for Biden as he struggled to make up ground from his shocking start. 

At one point, he tried to hit Trump on the report the former president called dead American soldiers ‘suckers and losers’ and on his felony conviction in New York.   

But Biden has been using those attack lines for months, and Trump again was ready for them, barely blinking as he hoped straight into Hunter Biden’s felony conviction and repeated that he was only the victim of a highly politicized persecution. 

At times the attacks became jaw-dropping – Biden told Trump he had the ‘morals of an alley cat’ as Trump noted: ‘I did not have [sexual intercourse] with a [adult] star.’

Following the debate, it was revealed that more and more Americans are growing concerned that President Joe Biden no longer has the cognitive faculties to serve as president.

CBS News polling shows that from early June to after the debate, voters' have an increasing view that President Joe Biden does not have the cognitive health to serve another term in the White House

CBS News polling shows that from early June to after the debate, voters’ have an increasing view that President Joe Biden does not have the cognitive health to serve another term in the White House

The number of registered voters who believe Biden isn’t fit for the title of commander-in-chief grew by seven percent from earlier this month. 

Before the debate in a June 9 poll, 65 percent said Biden doesn’t have the mental fitness to serve another four years – but after the debate, that grew to 72 percent, according to the CBS News/YouGov survey.

And nearly half (46 percent) of Biden’s own party don’t think he should run for president in 2024.

Despite Democratic Party members, donors and strategists claiming it might be time for Biden to step aside, it seems there are a lack of alternate options and many lawmakers aren’t jumping on board with switching candidates this late in the game.

Nearly three-quarters of voters of all parties said that Biden shouldn’t be running for president – and most said it was because of his age.

A whopping 86 percent said Biden’s age is why they don’t want Biden continuing to run for reelection, while the second-highest reason was the 71 percent who are worried about decisions he might make in a second term in office.

Letter calling for Joe Biden to step aside in full 

Dear Joe,

I write to you urgently, as your old neighbor from Scranton. My mother was your babysitter, and you and I sat at my kitchen table many decades ago. I’ve been your admirer for years, sending you checks, knocking on doors and writing pieces supporting you.

Few leaders in American history have had your big heart or sense of moderation. You rescued this country from disaster in 2021, returning us to a sense of normalcy after a brutal insurrection, featuring a crazed mob who smashed the windows of the Capitol and threatened to hang then-Vice President Mike Pence. You assisted an economy in freefall, helping us end a pandemic that killed over 1 million people in the US alone, making it one of the worst-affected wealthy countries globally.

You ushered in crucial support for infrastructure. You, Joe, pushed through the Safer Communities Act, which included the most significant gun control measures in nearly thirty years. Crime has fallen and continues to fall, despite Trump’s rhetoric to the contrary, and you’ve been trying to tame sticky inflation with some success — consumer prices have slowly but steadily dropped under your leadership.

You marshalled support among our allies for Ukraine. And our country is deeply admired around the world for its leadership in technology, its strong military, its enviable research universities and a hugely influential entertainment industry, according to Pew.

This is all good. But you’re an old man now, like me. I know what it’s like to summon the energy to move forcefully through the day. Our bodies don’t cooperate as they once did. Sometimes it hurts even to get up in the morning.

Sadly, that was evident to me from the moment you walked — dazed and confused — onto the debate stage Thursday in Atlanta against former President Donald Trump. You seemed ancient, pale and fragile. You almost groped your way to the podium. Your speech was halting, often incoherent. Your jokes fell flat, badly timed, out of context. You let crazy Donald lie with impunity and snicker at your responses.

I found myself weeping. Weeping for you. Weeping for our nation.

You’re a man of huge integrity, Joe, and you must — you MUST — stand down. Do it for your country and your party. The threat of another four years of Trump, a grifter and con man, is existential.

Democracy really is at stake: Trump tried to subvert the 2020 election and overthrow our government. He did everything in his power to confuse his followers, making them believe he really was elected four years ago.

If Trump returns to the White House, he will give Russian President Vladimir Putin free rein to crush the poor Ukrainians and anyone else who annoys him. He will give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a blank check. NATO will be imperiled. He will slap massive tariffs on imported goods from China and elsewhere, driving up inflation, as economists suggest. He may put more right-wing judges on the Supreme Court, and women can forget about abortion rights for good. Guns will proliferate, as they did under Trump’s first term in office. He will work to make the public think that global warming is a big hoax, destroying progress in this crucial work of fighting climate change. On and on. Disaster looms.

It’s on you, Joe, to listen to the leaders of your party.

Speaking of which, if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are not on their way to the White House today, they should be swiftly removed from office for dereliction of duty. It’s their job to see that the party puts forward the best person who can win in November, and if they don’t, the election of Trump should land squarely in their laps. It’s beyond time for wise heads to surround you with love, Joe. They must tell you that, for the sake of the country (not to say your own legacy, which is on the brink of ruin): It’s the moment to step down.

The lesson of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s desperate effort to cling to power when her resignation, under President Barack Obama, would have allowed for a good judge to replace her should be echoing in your head. Don’t let yourself be remembered as Joe Bader Biden.

You’ve done your work, and you’ve done it well. The nation is stronger because of you. But we need a brokered, open convention — as in the old days, when this was the norm. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker and others — just to pluck a few obvious names from the hat — should make a case for themselves. The best available Democrat should stand against Trump in November. Any of them should be able to wipe the floor with him.

I’m sorry it’s come to this. But it has.

We both share what I like to think of as Scranton values. We grew up among hard-working ordinary people who understood that this is a country based on equality. Our neighbors were Irish, Italian, Ukrainian and Lebanese immigrants. We believed in this place called the United States of America, where values and character matter.

Be the great man you are, Joe, the one we’ve seen in action and admired for many decades. We salute you. It’s tough, I’m sure. But your final act of greatness lies right before you now.

Do it. Withdraw.

Respectfully, Jay

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