Former Obama adviser David Axelrod doubled down after President Biden reportedly called him a “prick” and argued that the president has a “real problem” if he thinks he can “trick nature.”
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd defended Axelrod in a column published on Sunday, criticizing Biden for engaging in “petty disputes.”
“I don’t care if they think I’m a curmudgeon — that’s fine,” Axelrod told Dowd. “I hope they don’t think the polls are wrong, because they aren’t.”
Axelrod, who Dowd noted has defended Biden in the past, told Dowd that Biden thinks he can “cheat nature,” drawing comparisons to Hillary Clinton.
“I think he has a 50-50 shot here, but no better than that, maybe a little worse,” Axelrod said. “He thinks he can cheat nature here and it’s really risky. They have a real problem if they expect Trump to win it for them. I remember Hillary doing that too.”
Political columnist Jonathan Martin wrote in early November that Biden called Axelrod a “prick” in person.
“The president’s flash of anger suggests that he may be in denial, surrounded by enablers who are overlaying a bleak political forecast,” Dowd wrote.
Axelrod said he doesn’t care what Biden thinks about it, as long as Biden takes the survey seriously.AFP via Getty Images
Dowd said the president shouldn’t have a “chip on his shoulder,” and noted Axelrod received many messages from others who agreed with his assessment of recent polling.
“But he shouldn’t indulge the Irish chip on his shoulder. He needs to gather the sharpest minds in his party and listen to what they have to say, not engage in petty bickering,” Dowd wrote.
Axelrod urged the president to consider whether it might be “wise” to drop out of the race following polls showing Biden trailing Donald Trump in several key battleground states.
Axelrod reacted to Martin’s report during an appearance on CNN.
“Listen, I understand he’s upset because I raised a concern that many, many Democrats have. And again, you know, my feelings are either get out or go. But the status quo, the way they approach the campaign, ‘What, am I worried about?’ The attitude about the campaign will not get him where he needs to go,” he said.
While it’s “uncomfortable for the president,” Axelrod revealed that many others have told him they’re “glad someone said it” about Biden.
“I will live with the fact that the president is not happy with me,” he concluded.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
