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PRESIDENT Joe Biden is "dangerous" and "embarrassing" and should be removed from the White House, a former colonel has warned.
Experts have insisted time is up for the fumbling leader - notorious now for his painful public slip-ups.
Former British Army colonel Richard Kemp told The Sun Biden needs to be replaced in office immediately as he poses a "danger to the free world".
He said: "He's not in a fit state to be leading the world's greatest superpower, perhaps the world's only superpower."
On Thursday, Biden made the grave error of referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as "President Putin", the despot who has terrorized Ukraine for more than two years.
The excruciating faux paus ironically followed a days-long crunch summit between Nato partners which focused heavily on the Ukraine war.
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Alan Mendoza, director of transatlantic foreign policy and security think-tank The Henry Jackson Society, agrees that Biden presents a serious risk to the West.
He told The Sun the 81-year-old President failed to quell doubts about his mental capacity at the summit and is an embarrassment.
Alan said: "It is embarrassing, I think, because these kind of gaffes, public, in front of the world's eyes, are not what you'd expect a president to be doing."
This week's slip-up from Biden was the latest in a string of blunders the President has been ridiculed for as even his most senior Democratic colleagues call for him to quit.
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Even former President Barack Obama is thought to be maneuvering behind the scenes to get him out of the race.
Reports also surfaced last week of an anonymous document titled “Unburdened by What Has Been: The Case for Kamala."
Shared amongst democrats, it lays out a detailed plan for replacing Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris.
JOE NEEDS TO GO NOW
Richard told The Sun Biden's performance this week would have been "very, deeply concerning for many members of Nato".
He said: “To mistake Zelensky for Putin is about the worst thing he could do.
"It's very, very, offensive, obviously, unintentionally offensive, but nevertheless... The President of the United States cannot afford to give unintentional insults of that sort."
Richard warned The Sun that Biden's mental fitness gives "pleasure and encouragement" to vicious foreign actors like Russia and China.
He said it gives dictators Xi Jinping and Putin a less than intimidating picture of the "state of the person that's supposed to be leading our defensive alliance".
Richard told The Sun: "I think he appears to be unwilling to stand down himself. The Democratic Party and the US government needs to make sure he's not the next president.”
“He should be ruled out of the president's race on mental health grounds."
It's not enough just to say he shouldn't stand for election, he should be replaced now by the Vice President. He needs to be taken out of office now
Richard Kemp
The ex-colonel, who served across the globe in multiple wars since 1977, said the world is at a "very, very critical period" of "worsening security".
“It's not enough just to say he shouldn't stand for election, he should be replaced now by the Vice President. He needs to be taken out of office now," Richard said.
“And the vice president has a duty to... replace him as President, and that should happen immediately.
"A lot could happen in the next six months. That's very dangerous if he remains at the helm."
Richard added: "And it's not just to the United States, obviously, it's very, very important to the whole of the free world, including the United Kingdom."
THREAT TO GLOBAL SECURITY
Alan told The Sun of this week's Nato summit: "He [Biden] ruined it by those two big whoppers," referring to his mistakes about Kamala Harris and Zelensky.
He added: "It's very difficult to see how you would get Zelensky and Putin confused.
"The Kamala Harris one was in a sense, worse because he didn't recover from it. He just went on as if it hadn't happened, saying that she was Vice President Trump instead.
"It is embarrassing, I think, because these kind of gaffes, public, in front of the world's eyes, are not what you'd expect a president to be doing."
It is embarrassing, I think, because these kind of gaffes, public, in front of the world's eyes, are not what you'd expect a president to be doing
Alan Mendoza
Biden's apparent "confusion", Alan said, is dangerous, as it weakens the entire military alliance and wider west in the eyes of actors like Russia, China or Iran.
He said: "It's quite clear that his performance is deteriorating over time. In the last six months to a year, it's been much worse.
"If you're Putin, Xi or Khamenei, you're looking at this and going 'Is this man really gonna stop us from doing what we want to do?'," Alan explained.
"And that's a challenge for global security. You need to have an American president who is perceived to be stronger.
"If you don't have the perception, you encourage bad actors to believe that they will be able to get away with bad activity purely on account of confusion from their opponent."
Democrats who have called for Biden's resignation
SINCE Biden's disastrous debate with Trump in June, 17 Democrats have called for him to resign. Below are their comments.
Rep. Eric Sorensen
"I am hopeful President Biden will step aside in his campaign for President."
Rep. Scott Peters
"Today I ask President Biden to withdraw from the presidential campaign. The stakes are high, and we are on a losing course."
Rep. Jim Himes
"The 2024 election will define the future of American democracy, and we must put forth the strongest candidate possible to confront the threat posed by Trump's MAGA authoritarianism.
"I no longer believe that is Joe Biden."
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez
"I doubt the President’s judgement about his health, his fitness to do the job, and whether he is the one making important decisions about our country, rather than unelected advisors.
"Americans deserve to feel their president is fit enough to do the job."
Rep. Greg Stanton
"The Democratic Party must have a nominee who can effectively make the case against Trump, and have the confidence of the American people to handle the rigours of the hardest job on the planet for the next four years."
Rep. Ed Case
"Difficult times and realities require difficult decisions. This has nothing to do with his character and record. If it did, there would be no decision to make.
"This is solely about the future, about the President’s ability to continue in the most difficult job in the world for another four-year term."
Rep. Brad Schneider
"We are faced with a stark choice: be resigned to slog through this election praying we can successfully defend our democracy, or enthusiastically embrace a vibrant vision for our future, building on the extraordinary foundation President Biden has created for our nation over the past four years.
"I choose the latter."
Rep. Hillary Scholten
"President Biden has served his country well, but for the sake of our democracy, he must pass the torch to a new candidate for the 2024 election."
Sen. Peter Welch
"Regular Vermonters are worried that he can't win this time, and they're terrified of another Trump presidency."
Rep. Earl Blumenauer
"We will all be better served if the president steps aside as the Democratic nominee and manages a transition under his terms."
Rep. Pat Ryan
"I'd be doing a grave disservice to the hundreds of thousands of people I have the honor to represent if I said Biden was the best candidate to face Trump this fall."
Rep. Mikie Sherrill
Sherrill told ABC she feels the need to "advocate as strongly as possible for new leadership so we could really prosecute the case against Donald Trump."
Rep. Adam Smith
"He is not yet the nominee. So I think we have a chance to pick a better candidate who can effectively deliver the message, get off of all of these distractions, focus on the Democratic message and on the dangers of Donald Trump."
Rep. Angie Craig
"This is not a decision I've come to lightly, but there is simply too much at stake to risk a second Donald Trump presidency."
Rep. Mike Quigley
"Mr. President, your legacy is set.
"We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this."
Rep. Seth Moulton
"President Biden has done enormous service to our country, but now is the time for him to follow in one of our founding fathers, George Washington's footsteps and step aside to let new leaders rise up and run against Donald Trump."
Rep. Raúl Grijalva
"If he's the candidate, I'm going to support him, but I think that this is an opportunity to look elsewhere."
Rep. Lloyd Doggett
"I represent the heart of a congressional district once represented by Lyndon Johnson. Under very different circumstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw. President Biden should do the same."
Alan thinks the the Biden predicament facing the Democratic party is "obvious", as he needs to resign.
He told The Sun it would be the "cleanest" scenario for Biden to step down now as President and allow Kamala to replace him immediately.
But failing that, a "neat solution" would be for Biden to be removed under the 25th Amendment - also likely replacing him with Kamala.
Alan said of Biden resigning: "Well, that, of course, would be the cleanest solution, because that would enable Kamala Harris to step in as president.
He went on: "If he did step down, though, or was frankly removed under Amendment 25 of the constitution, which says that if you're incapable... That would be neat as a solution."
But Alan added: "I don't think he's at that stage where you could probably make that judgement and say he's obviously totally incapable.
"So I think it really is down to whether he decides to resign and hand over or not."
While Alan said is it up to the Democratic Party to decide whether it is time for Biden to go, he described the President as a "liability" and said he would advise him to pull out.
Alan told The Sun: "He claims that other world leaders came up to him and said, oh, we hope you win against Trump," after the DC summit.
"That's not great to reveal what people are telling you in private conversations," Alan explained.
"Clearly, he's turning into a bit of a liability, not simply at home, but also abroad, if he's sharing these kinds of conversations in public."
But the analyst doesn't believe Biden is likely to resign.
He told us: "The Joe Biden we've seen is very solid, very convinced that he is still fit for office, very hurt by the idea he isn't.
"If I was the Democratic Party, I would be going, 'polls show us that almost all the other candidates we have will beat Donald Trump handsomely.
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"You're a patriot, Joe Biden, isn't the patriotic thing now to step down and say you've had a good run... but don't run for another six months.
"Who the heck knows what Joe Biden's going to turn up on Monday in the next debate on election day."
How could Biden be removed from race?
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Calls for Joe Biden to end his reelection campaign have mounted since his poor presidential debate night performance on June 27
After the debate, the 81-year-old president's cognitive health concerns were once again a pressing topic among news outlets and his allies in the Democratic Party.
What has Joe Biden said about his future in the race?
- Biden has remained defiant and shot down calls for him to step aside in the upcoming presidential election.
- The Biden administration was forced to deny reports that the president confided to a close ally that he is considering withdrawing from the race.
- In a July 5 interview with ABC News, Biden said that "no one is more qualified" to win the race than him, adding only the "Lord Almighty" could convince him to resign.
- On July 8, Biden sent a scathing letter to Congressional DNC members who have called on him to step down.
- "I want you to know that despite all the speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump," the president wrote.
- Biden proceeded to slam "elites" in a live interview with MSNBC, daring any challenger to run against him.
How could Joe Biden be removed from the ballot?
- Since the June 27 debate night, a growing number of Congressional Democrats have called on Biden to end his reelection campaign.
- So far, five out of the 213 DNC members in Congress have publicly called for Biden to quit the race.
- As Biden continues to emphasize his status in the upcoming election, many are wondering whether the 25th Amendment should be used to oust him.
What is the 25th Amendment?
- The 25th Amendment of the Constitution states the vice president shall replace a president if they die in office or resign or if members of the president's cabinet declare the president is unable to fulfill the duties of their office.
- Labor Secretary Julie Su, who would need to invoke the 25th Amendment, called the idea "absurd."