David Axelrod basically doubles down on his proclamation that Biden may need to not run for re-election and he doesn't care if you call him, as he puts it, a prick. [00:00:16] There it is, so former chief architect of the Obama White House, David Axelrod, former senior advisor, said he thinks President Biden has a, quote, [00:00:31] 50-50 shot of winning in the 2024 election. And that the current president faces the risky bet of trying to, quote, cheat nature. Axelrod told the New York Times, Maureen Dowd, in an interview, quote, [00:00:51] I think he has a 50-50 shot here, but no better than that, maybe a little worse. 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. [00:01:07] I remember Hillary doing that too. Let's talk about some of the context that's not mentioned. Once again, David Axelrod, still very much so part of the Democratic Party establishment, which means he does not [00:01:26] make a public proclamation without getting at least approval or the wink and nod from the gatekeepers of the Democratic Party or the gatekeepers. Well, you can definitely count former President Barack Obama among them, okay? [00:01:41] Because if David Axelrod does this, Biden calls Obama and says, Obama, why is your guy coming after me? Well, remember David Axelrod, still very much so involved not only in his political breakdown as it relates to his job, [00:02:02] but also his connections to people inside of the party. So he has permission from individuals inside of the DNC, either proper or DNC de facto to do exactly what he's doing to be that person. [00:02:17] I would expect President Obama may actually say something on record as well very soon. But here's the part that we all know. No one voted for Biden first time, because they were excited about Biden. [00:02:33] And if you say you voted for Biden because you were excited about a Biden presidency, you're a liar. We were excited about making sure Donald Trump was not a second term president, that's the reason most voted for Biden. [00:02:52] Democrats polled at over 60%, saying, hey, we prefer somebody else that was first term. Now, it's even higher. But in a head-to-head matchup clearly, clearly, everyone sided on the Democratic side with Biden, [00:03:10] independents sided with Biden, young people sided with Biden. Those numbers are dramatically different today, given rise to Axelrod and let's just say, the approval of the Democratic establishment for [00:03:26] saying this may not be a go here. And also, the lack of surrogates campaigning on behalf of Biden, where are they? Do they exist? Have you heard from them? Are they being booked? There's more, the column defends Axelrod, [00:03:44] opening with a declaration from Dowd that he is, quote, not a prick, and noted that Axelrod has said Biden was a great vice president and did wonderful things as president. Axelrod earlier this month suggested that Biden needs to decide if [00:04:03] it's still wise to run, following a recent poll showing Biden trailing former President Trump in key swing states. Now, Axelrod is not looking at popular vote, he can't, all right? He's looking directly at how the Electoral College equates to a victory or [00:04:20] loss, which is the way presidential campaigns are won and lost. I don't care about them thinking I'm a prick, he says, that's fine. Axelrod told Dowd, quote, I hope they don't think the polls are wrong, [00:04:36] because they're not. Dowd's column was published Saturday, two days before Biden turned 81. She argues that Biden has a healthy ego, thinks that he doesn't get the credit he thinks he deserves for his accomplishments, and has fought for the presidency all his life. [00:04:56] Here's the disturbing trend. >> Speaker 2: Overall, this is the handling of the Israel-Hamas war. And again, it kinda measures overall up with Biden's foreign policy approval. But look at this, among the oldest group of voters, 65+, there's a majority who approve of how Biden is handling this that's +12. [00:05:16] Look at the youngest group of voters, 20 approve, 70% disapprove. He is 50 points underwater with the youngest group of voters. That is a 62 point net swing between youngest and oldest on this topic of Israel-Hamas. [00:05:31] >> Speaker 3: And it's a critical group of voters that he needs in order to win re-election that's for sure. >> Speaker 1: It's critical for Democrats in particular to win a national election by way of having excitement, the youth vote trending. [00:05:48] He doesn't have that. His mishandling of the conflict has created significant anchoring of his political messaging domestically. But if he would like to die on this particular heel, then politically, it is exactly what he has brought upon himself. [00:06:07] But the reality is this, the office of the Presidency sets policies that permeate beyond the man and beyond the institution. It impacts people, bad policy kills, good policy gives life. It is bigger than any one person or at least it should be. [00:06:25] And to those who are in the democratic establishment hiding behind their silence, knowing good and damn well they need to say something publicly, because I'm sure you've said it privately to President Biden, hiding behind Axelrod, allowing him to be your mouthpiece. Say something publicly, because it's bigger than you, too. [00:06:43] All right, wise thoughts here. >> Speaker 1: Yeah, this has been a trend going on for months now. And as you so astutely pointed out, Dr. Ritchie, it's not as if this guy [LAUGH] had the hugest amount of enthusiasm coming into his nomination back in 2020. [00:07:00] It was kind of, all right, I guess we're gonna run with this guy cuz everybody seems to hate Trump. I think some of the things that you've seen over the course of time with people like Gavin Newsom, essentially announcing to the world that he wants to run for president. [00:07:18] For example, there's absolutely no reason for this dude to be debating Ron DeSantis on TV, but to get his name out there and to show potential voters that he could be a viable candidate, right? And these stories via proxies like David Axelrod here and [00:07:36] places like Politico, where they just get these DC Democratic Party insiders to trash Biden anonymously. This has been happening for months now. Here's the saving grace for Joe Biden. Gavin Newsom stinks. [00:07:53] [LAUGH] I live in the state of California, he sucks. If they expose that guy to a national audience, I think he would get scraped through the coals. Honestly, I think he's a bit of a lightweight in that sense. And beyond Newsom, there's no obvious viable replacement. [00:08:10] It doesn't exist. And so I think those are the saving graces for Biden. But again, young people hate how he's handling one of the defining wars of our lifetime, Dr. Ritchie. And then, of course, even when he does have wins, he's been hermetically sealed in the White House and in his control room. [00:08:30] He doesn't go out and stump for himself, so how is he supposed to gin up support? >> Speaker 1: Yeah, and you make a point about him being sealed in the White House. I think the reason his age becomes a factor in conversation when the truth [00:08:45] is Trump is not a spring chicken himself, they are very close in age. Bernie Sanders had the most enthusiastic support we saw from young people in the presidential election some years back, he's not a spring chicken either. [00:09:01] It's the fact that these individuals, Trump and Sanders, they will go out and touch people. They talk to people, they will energize the crowd. Well, that energy is transferable into the overall trend of a particular candidate. [00:09:17] Without that, there's a problem. Now, remember, when Biden ran the first time, he did not need that, because we were in the midst of what, COVID shutdown. And so he did a lot of these dynamics by way of a conference call via social media, as well as Zoom, etc. [00:09:37] So that doesn't exist now. Obviously, if Biden would have delivered on the resume, this may not be as much of an issue, because people would have something to be very excited about. You have to now hold the gains that you made. But if you have not made those gains, you cannot campaign on them. [00:09:53] All right, we'll bring you updates as it comes.