Ex-Obama Official Warns Biden It's Time to Decide: 'Stakes...Too Dramatic to Ignore'
David Axelrod, a one-time rousted adviser to former President Barack Obama, hinted that it might be time for President Joe Biden to step aside and let another candidate take his party’s nomination.
Axelrod shared new polling from The New York Times on the social media platform X that purports to show Biden is way behind former President Donald Trump in a number of crucial battleground states a year before the 2024 presidential election.
The polling shows Biden trailing Trump by nine points in Nevada, five in Arizona, four in Pennsylvania, six in Georgia and five in Michigan.
The same poll showed Biden up by only two points in Wisconsin.
Axelrod is probably best known as a driving force behind Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. He had an office in the Obama White House before he was replaced in 2011 by the then-president who was already preparing for his 2012 campaign, according to a Chicago Magazine report about “The Message: The Reselling of Barack Obama,” a book about the 2012 race by MSNBC commentator and Richard Wolffe.
Axelrod, a previous Biden critic, did not call on Biden to drop out of the race but he did strongly suggest it is something the embattled president should consider.
“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,” Axelrod wrote. “He’s defied [conventional wisdom] before but this will send tremors of doubt thru the party–not ‘bed-wetting,’ but legitimate concern.”
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. https://t.co/g6zeWF0T87— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 5, 2023
In three follow-up tweets, Axelrod, a CNN contributor, called out Biden’s age and also lashed out at Trump.
“The greatest concern is that his biggest liability is the one thing he can’t change,” Alexrod tweeted. “Among all the unpredictables there is one thing that is sure: the age arrow only points in one direction.”
The greatest concern is that his biggest liability is the one thing he can’t change. Among all the unpredictables there is one thing that is sure: the age arrow only points in one direction.
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 5, 2023
He also wrote, “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.”
In a final post on the matter, Axelrod concluded, “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?”
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?
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 5, 2023
The New York Times, in a collaboration with Siena College, also found in the poll cited by Axelrod that 67 percent of registered voters believe the country is on the wrong track.
Only seven percent of respondents said they were not at all likely to vote in the 2024 election.
Trump was ahead 48-44 percent among all registered voters, who were asked which candidate they would vote for between Biden and the former president.
The poll surveyed 3,662 registered swing state voters from Oct. 22 to Nov. 3 and reported a margin of error at +/- 1.8 percent.
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