Former Obama strategist David Axelrod said President Biden is “dangerously out-of-touch” with voter concerns about his age and mental fitness to do the job.
“The president is rightfully proud of his record. But he is dangerously out-of-touch with the concerns people have about his [capacities] moving forward and his standing in this race,” the Democrat said.
His remarks came after Biden’s much-anticipated interview on Friday with ABC News's George Stephanopoulos, the first since his disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump last week. Since the June 27 showdown, the president has faced mounting pressure from donors, commentators, media, and politicians to step down.
In the interview with Stephanopoulos, Biden insisted his poor performance was a "bad night."
“I was having a bad night when I realized that even when I was answering a question, when they turned his mic off, [Trump] was still shouting, and I let it distract me,” Biden said.
Axelrod also highlighted where the president was in polling at this point in the 2020 race.
"Four years ago at this time, he was 10 points ahead of Trump.Today, he is six points behind," Axelrod noted.
The president is rightfully proud of his record.
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) July 6, 2024
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.
Biden insisted in the interview he's not behind in most surveys even though RealClearPolitics' average of national polling shows Trump ahead of Biden by 3.3 percentage points on average.
Biden claims he's not behind in the race, then forgets which polls he's citing until George Stephanopoulos rescues him — and insists his humiliating debate performance didn't negatively impact him pic.twitter.com/2jXu8R4rx8
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 6, 2024