Twitter explodes over column calling for Biden to run with Liz Cheney in 2024

‘Of all the things that will never happen, this will never happen the most’

New York Times columnist Tom Friedman is under fire from both Democrats and Republicans on Twitter for proposing a unity ticket for the 2024 election.

Specifically, he suggests that President Joe Biden replaces Vice President Kamala Harris with Republican representative Liz Cheney if he runs for a second term.

In the opinion column titled: “Biden-Cheney 2024?”, Friedman argues that the US should take inspiration from “the most diverse national unity government in Israel’s history” and come together to get stuff done and mute the “hyperpolarisation” that was making the country “ungovernable”.

Not only does he propose a Biden-Cheney ticket, but he also suggests: “Biden and Lisa Murkowski, or Kamala Harris and Mitt Romney, or Stacey Abrams and Liz Cheney, or Amy Klobuchar and Liz Cheney? Or any other such combination.”

Friedman pitches the idea as a radical step to save American democracy that he argues is under threat from a Trump-led or inspired GOP victory that then refuses to cede power, having demonstrated they are no longer committed to the rules of democracy.

Combining Democratic voters with between five and ten per cent of moderate Republicans he says will assure a victory for those wishing to preserve American democracy.

Twitter was not having it.

Andrew Weinstein, chair of the Democrat’s Lawyer’s Council, tweeted: “Of all the things that will never happen, this will never happen the most.”

Comedian Kathy Griffin wrote: “Tom! For chrissake, I only have half a lung. We like Biden and Harris. That’s why we picked them.”

Former congressman Justin Amash responded: “We really are in the worst timeline.”

Noah Schachtman, the editor of Rolling Stone, wrote: “The most storied institution in American journalism has given this man a high-paying job for life. And he farts this out.”

On the right, conservative evangelical writer and radio host Erick Erickson tweeted: “Oh good grief this guy.”

Others noted the headline’s implication of the erasure of Kamala Harris, the first woman of colour to be on a major party’s ticket and subsequently win the presidency — one tweet reads: “Operation Erase The Black Woman.”

The Nation correspondent Jeet Heer wrote: “I’m not the biggest Kamala Harris by a long shot but we should be clear that dumping her for a very reactionary white Republican would be a good way to destroy the Democratic Party.”

While there were some more nuanced takes regarding workability and the differences between the governmental systems in the US and Israel, most comments stayed in the realm of incredulity.

Journalist Roland Martin tweeted: “Ain’t no way in hell that’s gonna happen. This is beyond idiotic.”

Amanda Carpenter, a columnist for The Bulwark and the director of Republicans for Voting Rights, pondered: “Did an Ambien-laced melatonin dream write this?”