NBC News
- Joe Biden’s recent interviews highlighted the very weaknesses Democrats are worried about.
- Biden stumbled over words and seemed defensive and unwilling to accept he was losing in the polls.
- Some of the most crucial voters to Biden’s reelection increasingly want him replaced.
President Joe Biden’s performance in two new interviews this week likely won’t do much to quell Democrats’ fears about his fitness for the job.
And in comparison to Donald Trump’s projections of strength after Saturday’s assassination attempt against him, Biden may now be looking even weaker to Democrats who fear their candidate will lose in November.
In an interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt on Monday, Biden appeared feeble, soft-spoken, and, at times, couldn’t seem to finish his train of thought.
At one point, Holt asked Biden about a recent statement he had made saying it was time to put Trump in the “bull’s-eye.”
But in his response to Holt, Biden said he “didn’t say crosshairs,” appearing to confuse the word Holt had asked about.
Biden also repeatedly snapped at Holt, expressing his frustration with the media’s coverage of his debate performance, saying things like, “What’s with you guys? Come on, man.”
In another interview with Complex, which was recorded the day before Trump’s attempted assassination but aired on Monday, Biden also spoke slowly and softly, and gave rambling and long-winded answers.
When asked what Biden would say to voters who had decided to pick Trump, the president responded, “Lots of luck in your senior year,” an idiom Biden has used repeatedly that has puzzled viewers.
While Biden’s appearance in these interviews was nowhere near as disastrous as his June 27 debate against Trump, he didn’t exactly hit it out of the ballpark.
Biden’s allies immediately praised his combative stance with the media and polling as proof of his vigor. But his unsteady interviews can’t rest easy with the growing contingent of Democrats who, for weeks, have been calling on Biden to drop out of the race.
Though the push for Biden to step aside has largely paused in the aftermath of Saturday’s violence, they haven’t been put to rest altogether.
Democratic insiders and strategists are not only still concerned about Biden’s campaign, but also increasingly worried that the attempt on Trump’s life will only make him look stronger to voters in comparison to Biden, Newsweek reported.
Voters, too, are growing increasingly skeptical of Biden’s ability to beat Trump and serve out another term.
A new survey conducted on Monday by Morning Consult found that the number of Democratic voters who say Biden should be replaced as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has ticked up in recent weeks. According to the July 15 survey, 48% believe Biden should be replaced on the ticket and 43% believe he should not — and that’s up from 47% and 41%, respectively, of Democratic voters polled immediately after the debate.
Those numbers are even more dramatic among Black and Hispanic voters — two of the most important groups to Biden’s reelection coalition — the survey found. When polled on Monday, 55% of Black voters and 64% of Hispanic voters said Biden should be replaced — compared to 48% and 58% who thought so on June 28.
But Biden is swearing to press on. Close ally and civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton posted a statement backing the president on Monday evening, just before Biden’s NBC interview.
“Just got a call from President Joe Biden, he says that he is not going anywhere,” Sharpton wrote. “He would like people to know that he called and he’s determined to fight to protect our rights.”
