Bob Costas says 'clearly in decline' Biden must drop out: 'We can no longer indulge his delusions'

Emmy-winning sportscaster Bob Costas renewed his call for President Biden to step down from the 2024 race over the weekend, pointing to the president's "serious decline."

"And for those who say the definition of cognitive dissonance here is, 'Oh, we're not going to toss him overboard because of one bad night,' that one bad night, that one atrocious night was simply writ large what could be seen for years and years that he is in serious decline," Costas said last Saturday on CNN, hours before the attempted assassination against former President Trump.

Costas is among the increasing number of public figures who have argued Biden should withdraw from the 2024 race following his disastrous debate performance that left some with concerns over his ability to beat Trump and carry out a second term.

"Nobody should be president when they're 85 or 86, including the ghost of Abraham Lincoln," Costas said. "But this guy is clearly in decline at this point. And part of the job, leaving aside whether he can do it for the next four years, is winning the job and as you just laid out that seems nearly impossible."

At 81, Biden is the oldest sitting U.S. president. If reelected this November, he would be 87 at the end of his second term.

Costas criticized Biden's reelection bid earlier this year in February, calling it a "hubris" campaign," in a February appearance on HBO Max's "Real Time with Bill Maher."

He suggested at the time it is not a wise idea to make Biden the Democratic nominee and argued he should "be shown the door."

“If Biden’s hubris is such that he doesn’t understand the best interest of his party, and more importantly, his country, then he has to be shown the door, period,” Costas said in February.

Costas on Saturday said he believes he was willing to say what others were scared to back in February and that his argument "became more overwhelmingly obvious with the debate performance."

"Biden had a chance to be seen by history as a statesman and a patriot. He spared the nation a second Trump term, he could have gone out in a gracious fashion. Now we can no longer indulge in his delusions," Costas said. "It's a shape. It's kind of a Shakespearean tragedy — perhaps with him as King Lear and his wife as Lady Macbeth — but that’s all secondary now.  Precedent doesn’t matter now. ‘Oh, he is the incumbent.' He won all the votes in the primary because he had no opposition."

The Hill reached out to the Biden campaign for comment.

Despite a number of Democratic lawmakers calling for Biden to step down, the president and his team have maintained he intends on staying in the race, stating he is capable of beating Trump in November and up for a second term.

“We gotta finish the job. I promise you I am OK,” Biden told supporters during a campaign stop last week in Michigan.

He echoed remarks from his high-stakes press conference the night before, during which he said he’s not running again for his legacy but instead to finish the job he started four years ago.

“That’s why I’m running to finish this job. There’s more to do. I know I’m only 41. … I promise you I’m OK,” he said, cracking a joke about his age.

Costas's comments were hours ahead of the shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pa., during which the former president was wounded after he said a bullet pierced his ear. One spectator was killed, along with the suspected shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was fatally shot by authorities moments after he fired at Trump.

Two other attendees were injured and were in stable condition as of Sunday, the Pennsylvania State Police said.