'He Thinks He Can Cheat Nature': Joe Biden Has a '50-50 Shot' of Winning 2024 Election, Claims Former Obama Advisor
Nov. 20 2023, Published 9:28 a.m. ET
Former Obama adviser David Axelrod doubled down on his claim that President Joe Biden might not be able to beat Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
“I think he has a 50-50 shot here, but no better than that, maybe a little worse,” Axelrod told New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd in an article published on Sunday, November 19, before bringing up what Hillary Clinton might have been going through in 2016. “He thinks he can cheat nature here and it’s really risky. They’ve got a real problem if they’re counting on Trump to win it for them. I remember Hillary doing that, too.”
Axelrod then said the president, 81, shouldn't have an ego, especially when dealing with someone like Trump, who has a huge fanbase.
“I don’t care about them thinking I’m a prick — that’s fine,” Axelrod told Dowd. “I hope they don’t think the polls are wrong, because they’re not.”
Politico columnist Jonathan Martin previously claimed that Biden had called Axelrod a "prick" in private.
“The president’s flash of anger indicates that he may be in denial, surrounded by enablers who are sugarcoating a grim political forecast,” Dowd wrote. “But he should not indulge the Irish chip on his shoulder. He needs to gather the sharpest minds in his party and hear what they have to say, not engage in petty feuds."
As OK! previously reported, Axelrod, 68, urged Biden to step away from the race, as he's falling behind in five key states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania. (Biden previously won in these states when he faced Trump in the 2020 election.)
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"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, November 5.
"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," he continued. "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?"
While speaking to CNN, Axelrod addressed his prior remarks.
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“Listen, I understand he was irritated because I raised concerns that many, many Democrats had. And again, you know, my feeling is either get out or get going. But the status quo, the way they were approaching the campaign, this sort of ‘What, me, worry?’ attitude about the campaign was not going to get him to where he needs to go,” he said.
“I’ll live with the fact that the president’s unhappy with me,” he concluded.