News/Commentary

Axelrod walks back remarks about Biden quitting race: ‘I didn’t do that’

November 8, 2023 | | Print Article

Democrat strategist and CNN political commentator David Axelrod caused a major stir when he hinted that it is time for President Joe Biden to call it a career but now he’s walking back his explosive remarks.

Reacting to a brutal new poll showing that the Democrat incumbent would lose five out of six swing states to former President Donald J. Trump if the election was held today, the influential Axelrod suggested that Biden’s insistence at running was rooted in selfishness and that he needed to decide whether the interests of the country were more important than his own ego.

The ruthless political operative who has long been Barack Obama’s right-hand man told Politico that he was misinterpreted although there is little doubt that he clearly nudged the deeply unpopular octogenarian in the direction of the exit.

“It’s overreacting to say I told him to drop out,” Axelrod said. “I didn’t do that.”

“He’s the only one to make the decision. And if his decision is ‘no, I’m the best person to take this on,’ then he will,” Axelrod told the outlet.

“It’s very late to change horses; a lot will happen in the next year that no one can predict & Biden’s team says his resolve to run is firm. He’s defied CW before but this will send tremors of doubt thru the party–not ‘bed-wetting,’ but legitimate concern,” Axelrod wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday after the New York Times-Siena College numbers came out.

“The @POTUS is justly proud of his accomplishments. Trump is a dangerous, unhinged demagogue whose brazen disdain for the rules, norms, laws and institutions or democracy should be disqualifying. But the stakes of miscalculation here are too dramatic to ignore,” the Obama whisperer added.

“Only @JoeBiden can make this decision. If he continues to run, he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. What he needs to decide is whether that is wise; whether it’s in HIS best interest or the country’s?” Axelrod stated, words that drew an angry reaction from Biden loyalists and served as fodder for much media discussion on whether it’s time for Joe to go.

On Monday, after he dropped his bomb on Biden, Axelrod told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that it’s the geriatric president’s call on whether or not he should remain in the race

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(Video: CNN)

“So do you think he should drop out?” Blitzer asked point blank.

“I think he is entitled to make that decision on his own,” the architect of Obama’s ascension to the White House replied. “And I’ve said many times, I don’t think a primary challenge would be successful. It would only weaken him. So, I’ve not encouraged that. But I think, you know, he has a record to be proud of and I think history will be kind to Joe Biden based on what he’s done in his first, in his term as president. And you know, the question is, how will it end? Will it end with the defeat of Donald Trump or not? That’s what he has to consider because how it ends is important.”

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Chris Donaldson
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