Joe Biden’s much-anticipated interview on ABC News Friday night was seen as a crucial opportunity to revive his faltering reelection campaign after a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump last week.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Biden failed to do so. Initial reactions were brutal, to say the least. As former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer pointed out, Biden “committed no real flubs,” and he “didn’t do anything to force himself out of the race.”
In other words, he’s not leaving.
But, that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt him more. In fact, according to David Axelrod, Barack Obama’s former top advisor, blasted Biden as “dangerously out of touch” after the interview.
The president is rightfully proud of his record.
But he is dangerously out-of-touch with the concerns people have about his capacitiies moving forward and his standing in this race.
Four years ago at this time, he was 10 points ahead of Trump.
Today, he is six points behind.— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) July 6, 2024
Axelrod later appeared on CNN to give a more thorough analysis of the interview.
“Did you see anything tonight, enough tonight, to change the view that he doesn’t have it, to run this race and win this election?” asked CNN’s Jim Sciutto asked.
“Well, the question is, did he change the minds of voters, who were watching that. I don’t really think so,” Axelrod replied.
You know, he — Jim, I think that — and some of it, I found sad. But he — he seems not to be able to compute the fact that people have these questions about him. He said, I have a — you know, when George Stephanopoulos asked him if you’d be willing to take a cognitive test. He said, I take a cognitive test, every day.
Well, the fact is, that may be true. But 75 percent of the American people think he failed that he failed. So I mean, they’re — they’ve lot — and so, this is a real problem for him. And it’s something that shows up in every poll.
Axelrod added a shockingly honest assessment of the state of the race, and it’s not good for Joe Biden.
And in terms of where he stands in the race. That — no politician out there will tell — has the same perception that the President does, that this is a tied race, and he’s right in the hunt, right now. He was 10 points ahead, four years ago. He’s six points behind now, worsens in most of the battleground states, and now in danger of losing states that weren’t thought to be in contention.
He then pointed out that during his campaign stop in Wisconsin, incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, wasn’t there.
“Why? Because she’s up for reelection. And it’s not helpful to her, to be seen with the president,” Axelrod noted. “This is what’s going to happen. And somebody really needs to be honest with him about it. It’s not — it can’t be the good Lord. But it should be the people who love and care for him and his closest advisers. His portrait of where he is in this race doesn’t comport with reality.”
CNN’s David Axelrod just called Joe Biden’s ABC interview “sad.”
It’s all downhill from here. pic.twitter.com/4MlOOoukNJ
— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) July 6, 2024
How much longer can Biden fend off calls for him to drop out?
