Democrats are creating confusion and helping former President Trump by continuing negotiations to nominate someone other than Kamala Harris to succeed President Biden, an MSNBC analyst opined Wednesday.
Political strategist Basil Smick appeared on an “MSNBC Reports” panel to discuss ongoing concerns about Biden following what many considered a disastrous performance in the first debate with President Trump.
Since the debate, many in the mainstream media and even Democrats have begun calling for Biden to drop out of the race and field a more viable candidate like California Governor Gavin Newsom or former first lady Michelle Obama.
Smickle criticized the proposals for ignoring Vice President Kamala Harris as an option and for the impact they would have on Black voters in particular.
Political strategist Basil Smickle discussed the issues surrounding Joe Biden’s successor. (MSNBC screenshot)
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“The reality is, if you’re going to be talking about the next candidate, if you’re not going to be the first to mention the current Vice President, Kamala Harris, then tell me how you’re going to engage black voters by bending the rules to accommodate someone other than her,” he said.
Mr Smickle also criticised the entire conversation, claiming it stokes “further concerns” about the party.
“The truth is, I hate this open casting call. It infuriates me,” Smickle said. “I understand admitting that the presidential debate didn’t go well, but Democrats should be saying that Joe Biden on his worst day was orders of magnitude better than Donald Trump on his best day. Why can’t that be the mainstream tone coming out of the debates?”
Some media outlets and Democratic Party officials have floated the idea of replacing Biden before the election. (Saul Loeb)
He added, “To me, all of these conversations are just stoking more confusion, more concern, more uncertainty among voters and giving Donald Trump and his campaign an opportunity to say, ‘Look what the Democrats are doing, they’re not getting it together.'”
Some media analysts and Democratic Party officials have said they support Harris as a possible successor to Biden if he steps down.
“This party should not be shying away from Harris in any way,” Rep. James Clyburn of Colorado told MSNBC on Tuesday.
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According to a new national poll from CNN, three-quarters of voters say Democrats are more likely to keep the White House if they put someone other than Biden at the head of the party.
And a CNN poll released Tuesday suggested Harris was performing slightly better than Biden in the race against Trump, the Republican front-runner.
Kamala Harris is one of the many names being mentioned as a possible successor to Biden. (Getty Images)
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Fox News’ Jeffrey Clark contributed to this report.
