Axelrod on claim Biden could have defeated Trump: ‘Bulls‑‑‑’

CNN pundit David Axelrod said it was “bulls‑‑‑" to think President Biden could have beaten former President Trump in the 2024 race, following Trump’s extraordinary win last week.

Axelrod, the former adviser to President Obama, took to his podcast “Hacks on Tap” to discuss a quote that suggested the president should have stayed in the race and should have been the 2016 Democratic nominee instead of Hillary Clinton.

“I read a quote from an unnamed Biden aide saying, you know, the Obama people ran Biden out in 2016 and he would have beaten Trump, and they ran him out again this time,” Axelrod said. “And he would have beaten Trump again. Bulls‑‑‑!”

Biden stepped aside and endorsed Vice President Harris in July after a pressure from within his own party following a dismal debate performance that raised questions over his age and ability to beat Trump.

Axelrod was a leading voice in questioning if Biden could beat Trump months before the debate. He was critical of the president’s reelection campaign and said in January that it was unhelpful that Democrats were dismissing concerns about Biden’s poor marks in major polls against Trump.

A year before the election, Axelrod said Biden had a "50-50 shot" of winning and said the president, who turns 82 next week, faces the risky bet of trying to “cheat nature.”

Tensions between the Biden and Obama camps also are nothing new, with Biden loyalists frequently feeling the 46th president was underestimated by Obama's team. Obama famously saw Hillary Clinton as his successor in 2016 instead of his own vice president.

Axelrod bashed the unnamed Biden aide for giving the quote anonymously, saying “come out to the daylight and say what you have to say.”

“Put your name under it, and then let’s have a discussion about it. But don’t be such a sniveling little coward that you put an unnamed quote out there saying what is absolutely bulls‑‑‑.”

“Look at the guy!” Axelrod said about Biden.