Democratic strategist David Axelrod said discussions of removing Biden from the Democratic nomination have become public because the president is “isolated.”
Axelrod sat down with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Thursday to discuss the growing number of Democratic lawmakers and donors calling for the president to resign, as well as the conflicting information coming out of the White House about Biden’s health.
“The reason these conversations are public is because the president is reclusive and didn’t want to hear them, his aides didn’t want to hear them, and there was no way to keep them private,” Axelrod said.
Concerns had been growing even before the first presidential debate about whether the 81-year-old president could beat former President Donald Trump and serve another four years in office if re-elected, but they were exacerbated after his poor performance sparked panic.
Biden has insisted he has no plans to back down and flatly rejected congressional requests.
Axelrod, a longtime adviser to former President Barack Obama, said the discussion about Biden’s age “leaked out into the public eye” because Biden’s performance in the debate “got into a glass-shattering situation.”
“Obviously, it would be nice if everything was neat and tidy, but that’s not the case right now,” he said.
Axelrod has stepped up his criticism of Biden in recent weeks, calling the situation “very tough” and unfortunate.
“I don’t think you can blame Democrats for this situation. I think this situation also stems from the denial of people in the White House,” he said.
On Thursday evening, after Biden held his first solo news conference of the year, Axelrod said it was “highly unlikely” the president would beat Trump.
