President Joe Biden seems to be "dangerously out of touch" and will likely "lose in a landslide" in the race against Donald Trump, David Axelrod, former advisor to Barack Obama predicts.
"He seemed to deny where he is in the race, and he seems not to grasp what is the big concern that people have," Axelrod told CNN's Pamela Brown Sunday.
Axelrod's sharp criticisms come more than a week after Biden's disastrous Atlanta debate performance and two days after the 81-year-old president sat down with ABC News host George Stephanopoulos to reassure voters he has no plans to bow out of the upcoming election.
"His whole life, he has overcome tremendous loss and tremendous odds. His personal loss is well known, extraordinary and horrible, and he's fought his way back from that," Axelrod explained, alluding to the 1972 fatal car crash that killed Biden's first wife, Neilia, and their 13-month-old daughter, Naomi. "He's fought his way back from political defeats and against the odds. And so his psyche is that he can beat anybody and any long odds."
"What he can't beat is Father Time, and that's really the concern here," said Axelrod, referring to Biden's age. "It's not about his record."
"It doesn't detract from his greatness or what he's done. It's just that there are certain immutable facts of life, and those were painfully obvious on that debate stage, and the President just hasn't come to grips with it."
Axelrod noted while Trump is a "real danger to democracy," it is plausible he will defeat Biden come November.
"It's more likely that he'll (Biden will) lose by a landslide than win narrowly this race," predicted Axelrod. "And if the stakes are as large as he says, and I believe they are, then he really needs to consider what the right thing to do here is."
Speaking with Stephanopoulos, Biden blamed his catastrophic debate showing on a cold and lack of sleep – downplaying it as a "bad episode." He promised only the "Lord Almighty" could convince him to quit his campaign.
The president is rightfully proud of his record.
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) July 6, 2024
But he is dangerously out-of-touch with the concerns people have about his capacitiies moving forward and his standing in this race.
Four years ago at this time, he was 10 points ahead of Trump.
Today, he is six points behind.
Afterward on X, Axelrod pointed out while, "The president is rightfully proud of his record... he is dangerously out-of-touch with the concerns people have about his capacities moving forward and his standing in this race."
"Four years ago at this time, he was 10 points ahead of Trump. Today, he is six points behind."
Biden's political career has spanned more than five decades. He previously served as a senator for Delaware before becoming former President Obama's vice president, and later on, president.
