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Ex-Obama adviser David Axelrod warned Wednesday that President Biden is no longer “in the position to win” in the wake of the assassination attempt against former President Trump on Saturday.
“This is inexorable and I don‘t say this with any pleasure at all because I worked with Joe Biden. He‘s served this country well for most of his life,” Axelrod said on CNN live at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
“But this is not the coda that he wants on his career. And I think that’s what people are telling him, that he can help improve the chances of winning a race that he says is existential, but the way he has to do it is to exit,” Axelrod continued.
“There will be a discussion about whether it‘s the vice president [Kamala Harris] or not [as his replacement]. She certainly is the likely candidate, maybe not the certain candidate. But what is certain, is he is not in a position to win this race any longer.”
Axelrod argued that something “crystallized” following the assassination attempt against Trump on Saturday, referencing the iconic photo captured seconds after Trump was hit and he raised his fist to the crowd with blood streaked down his face.
“At this point, it’s a question about him and whether he has any chance in this race and something has happened in the last several weeks between the debate, the events of Saturday, the assassination attempt and the way former President Trump reacted to it with the iconic photo. It’s crystallized something that has sent the numbers spiraling…,” Axelrod said.
Some of Biden’s longest and staunchest allies are continuing to call on him to withdraw from the race after his debate debacle last month and subsequent interviews, which have done little to reassure concerned Democrats. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a powerful voice in the party, has reportedly told Biden he cannot win, and California Rep. Adam Schiff publicly urged him to step aside on Wednesday.
Axelrod said that it’s time for Biden to acknowledge that “the polling is getting worse” and that the large donations to his campaign have “dried up” as prominent Democratic donors turn their attention to the House and the Senate, with the White House out of reach in their view as long as Biden remains at the top of the ticket.
CNN’s Abby Phillip said the consensus among many Democrats is that Biden has “not helped himself at all with these interviews that he’s doing.”
“His comments have reinforced the idea that he is not connected to what’s happening,” she said.
Polls continue to show a tight race nationally but Trump consistently leads in the battleground states that will likely decide the winner.
Axelrod previously called the idea of Biden being replaced on the ticket a “fantasy.” Biden has repeatedly said he’s staying in the race, but reports have emerged this week that he’s privately shown more receptivity to the idea, even as his campaign and White House publicly maintain he’s in it to the end.
