David Axelrod, who served as a senior adviser in the Obama administration, shared harsh criticism for President Joe Biden on Sunday, saying he doesn’t think Biden understands he’s “not winning this race.”
The remarks from Axelrod, who now works as a Democratic strategist, came on Sunday while he appeared on CNN’s “Inside Politics Sunday.”
“There are certain immutable facts of life, and those were painfully obvious on that debate stage, and the president just doesn’t seem to come to – he hasn’t come to grips with it. He’s not winning this race,” Axelrod said.
Axelrod also noted that Biden is “dangerously out of touch” for staying in the race despite growing calls for him to step down from not only Republicans but also Democrats.
“If you just look at the data and talk to people around the country, political people around the country, it’s more likely that he’ll lose by a landslide than win narrowly this race,” Axelrod continued. “And if the stakes are as large as he says, and I believe they are, then he really needs to consider what the right thing to do here is.”
Axelrod’s comments also came after Biden’s primetime interview last Friday, where the Democratic strategist said it didn’t seem Biden knew how bad the situation was.
“Listening to the interview, he seemed to deny where he is in the race. He seems not to grasp what is the big concern that people have,” Axelrod said.
When it comes to possible reasons for Biden’s refusal to step aside, Axelrod pointed to the “tremendous loss and tremendous odds” he’s faced in his life.
“He’s fought his way back from political defeats and against the odds. And so, his psyche is that he can beat anybody and any long odds. What he can’t beat is Father Time. And that’s really the concern here. It’s not about his record,” Axelrod said.
But despite the criticism that Biden is facing from voters right now, he said he still thinks “history will be much kinder.”
As things sit, five House Democrats have called for the president to step aside. However, Biden said this weekend that only the “Lord Almighty” could compel him to quit the race.