Earlier quoted context omitted.
in the world of web performance and SEO 85kb is very significant. i wouldnt think twice to remove it if i had the opportunity. compared to modern frameworks, jquery is ~500% larger. you could definitely debate the usage and needs but thats a separate topic than efficiency.
These massive compressed JS bundles make me think your numbers are off on the alleged golden age of modern frameworks: https://webpagetest.org/result/190213_XH_63c61dc3d45cb95ec8a... https://www.webpagetest.org/result/190213_NX_ee1e7ae8fa74557... It’s not hard to beat jQuery in many cases but they’re looking pretty svelte in comparison: https://webpagetest.org/result/190213_93_e2da91a07e2b2bc0234...
The biggest complain I read about is javascript downloads being so big nowadays so piling on with jQuery--or anything else--just because frameworks and other libraries are so bloated doesn't make it OK.