ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - With President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 Presidential Race, one broadcaster with ties to St. Louis says Biden only left because he was 'under extreme pressure.'
Bob Costas, who will be honored at the Musial Awards in the fall with a Lifetime Achievement award, joined KMOX's Total Information A.M. to discuss the honor of being presented the award later this year and also discussed Biden dropping out of the presidential race.
"What was obvious to me and I framed it this way, as most of the listeners will be familiar with the fairytale of the Emperors New Clothes, the Emperor was naked but all the subjects were bowing and giving him the props and only a little child could see 'wait a minute, the emperor is naked," said Costas on Total Information A.M.
Costas felt in his opinion, Biden should've promised to be a one-term president after he won the 2020 election and it would've turn out better for the country and Biden's legacy.
"The (first presidential) debate made this impossible to turn away from and that made it clear," said Costas. "But it should've been made clear to begin with."
During the conversation with KMOX Sports Director Tom Ackerman and Debbie Monterrey, Costas discussed the honor of being recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Musial Awards later this fall and says very few outside of St. Louis can understand how much Stan Musial means to the region.
"The thing about Stan Musial that goes beyond his statistics is you have to have known him and had to have been around St. Louis to understand you can hit .331 lifetime batting average, be a first ballot-Hall of Famer, and be the embodiment of the cliché he was a even better person than all these accomplishments," said Costas. "That happened to be true of Musial. He embodied a lot of qualities that a lot of us who aren't first-rate athletes can aspire too."
Costas also discussed his career, and looking at his willingness to have tough conversations such as politics, when most people would tell him to stick to sports.
Costas highlighted his willingness to discuss politics stemming from his sports broadcasting career of covering sensitive topics in sports like steroids in the late-1990s and early 2000s, the connection between CTE to American Football, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) affinity for authoritarian regimes as host cities.
"One of the things I've tried to do throughout my career, which is overwhelmingly in sports broadcasting, is acknowledge the elephant the room," said Costas. "It was obvious people were on steroid in the late-90s, early 2000s, a few people in print talked about it, almost no one in broadcasting talked about it. I acknowledged it and I talked about it."