Aaron Sorkin Says Democrats Should Replace Biden With This Familiar Republican

Aaron Sorkin sees a stark parallel between his hit series “The West Wing” and the presidential conundrum facing the Democratic Party this election cycle. In an op-ed for the New York Times, Sorkin reimagined the moment the show’s President Jed Bartlet was faced with a serious illness as one that sowed doubt in the public’s mind, much like President Joe Biden’s poor debate performance against former President Donald Trump in June did in real life.

His conclusion is a unique one. Sorkin said Democrats should nominate a Republican to head their party’s ticket — and not just any Republican, he wrote, but one that has cross-party name recognition: Mitt Romney.

“Nominating Mr. Romney would be putting our money where our mouth is: a clear and powerful demonstration that this election isn’t about what our elections are usually about, but about stopping a deranged man from taking power,” Sorkin insisted. “Surely Mr. Romney, who doesn’t have to be introduced to voters, would peel off enough Republican votes to win, probably by a lot. The double haters would be turned into single haters and the Nikki Haley voters would have somewhere to go, Ms. Haley having disqualified herself when she endorsed the leader of an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the government.”

Despite the fact that Romney does not back issues key to the party — abortion rights, raising the minimum wage, strengthening public education, expanding transgender rights and instituting progressive tax reform are all listed by Sorkin — the playwright and screenwriter added that the choice in November is essentially between Trump and a not-Trump candidate, and “the not-Trump candidate needs only one qualification: to win enough votes from a cross section of Americans to close off the former president’s Electoral College path back to power.”

The party could tap former President Barack Obama to, a la his famed 2004 speech that catapulted him to political stardom, “come forth at the Democratic convention next month in Chicago and remind us, once again, that we’re not red states and blue states but the United States by full-throatedly endorsing his old rival.” Romney himself “could make the case that the Democrats are putting country before party in ways that the MAGA movement will not, and announce his bipartisan cabinet picks at the convention as well.”

Nominating Romney would “put a lump in our throats” and simultaneously “be the end of Donald Trump in presidential politics,” Sorkin concluded.

Predictably, there have been numerous colorful reactions to Sorkin’s suggestion. Writer and director Alex Fernie commented bluntly on X, “Few people exemplify the concept of a dumb guy’s smart guy better than Aaron Sorkin.”

Few people exemplify the concept of a dumb guy’s smart guy better than Aaron Sorkin.

— Alex Fernie (@FernieCommaAlex) July 21, 2024

Columnist Matthew Yglesias reminded people what “The West Wing” is actually about, and what it did in a strikingly similar situation. “I feel like everyone, including Aaron Sorkin, has forgotten the plot of the hit television series ‘The West Wing’ in which the incumbent president is revealed to have covered up the truth about his compromised health and just guts it out and wins reelection,” he wrote.

I feel like everyone, including Aaron Sorkin, has forgotten the plot of the hit television series “The West Wing” in which the incumbent president is revealed to have covered up the truth about his compromised health and just guts it out and wins reelection.

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) July 21, 2024

Journalist Yashar Ali saw Sorkin’s best and raised him. “Democrats should shock the world by nominating Donald J. Trump as their nominee in August,” he tweeted.

Writer Charlotte Clymer summed things up when she tweeted, “Aaron Sorkin published an op-ed in NYT this morning that calls on Democrats to nominate a Republican in place of Pres. Biden next month at the convention, specifically Mitt Romney. For real. Don’t click on it. Don’t read it. I promise you ain’t missing anything. Parody has died.”

Aaron Sorkin published an op-ed in NYT this morning that calls on Democrats to nominate a Republican in place of Pres. Biden next month at the convention, specifically Mitt Romney. For real. Don’t click on it. Don’t read it. I promise you ain’t missing anything.

Parody has died. pic.twitter.com/Ricu3sjIJE

— Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) July 21, 2024

Journalist Imani Gandy condemned the idea entirely. “Aaron Sorkin writing an op-ed in the New York Times suggesting that the Democrats nominate Mitt Romney is peak West Wing brain rot,” she tweeted to her audience.

Aaron Sorkin writing an op-ed in the New York Times suggesting that the Democrats nominate Mitt Romney is peak West Wing brain rot.

— Imani Gandy (Orca’s Version) ⚓️ (@AngryBlackLady) July 21, 2024

Screenwriter Sarfraz Manzoor pointed out that the idea hasn’t been suggested before… and that’s on purpose. “Aaron Sorkin in the New York Times on what the Democrats should do next. No one else has suggested this — perhaps for good reason,” he said.

Aaron Sorkin in the New York Times on what the Democrats should do next. No one else has suggested this- perhaps for good reason. pic.twitter.com/Lke29AxFv6

— Sarfraz Manzoor (@sarfrazmanzoor) July 21, 2024

Twitter user @afrocosmist tweeted, “liberals are awesome. even in their fantasies where anything is possible they are still absolute f–king losers.”

Screenwriter Josh Olson tweeted, promoting his own podcast on Sorkin’s famed series, “If you’re finally just now realizing that Aaron Sorkin is a deeply conservative and profoundly stupid man, may I offer you 171 episodes of extremely entertaining and thought provoking I TOLD YOU SO?”

You can read the entire Aaron Sorkin op-ed at the New York Times.