OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Aides within the Biden White House have reportedly become terrified of a potential election loss to former President and 2024 Republican frontrunner Donald J. Trump with the latest poll results showing him and the incumbent Democrat in a statistical tie.
According to CNN, polls released Thursday have shown there is no evident lead between Trump and Biden in a projected match-up between the two. The situation has created what the report called an “existential stress” among Biden’s aides with the press questioning whether or not the 80-year-old Delaware Democrat should even seek re-election.
The outlet reported that Biden “operatives” are “terrified by what would happen if he lost,” and worry that this is a “very real possibility” citing several prominent national polls and media coverage focused on Biden’s age and a negative view of his performance.
The report explained,
“Several Biden aides themselves tell CNN that looking at Trump’s wide lead in every primary poll – and no clear leader in a hypothetical Biden-Trump rematch – leaves them with a particular kind of existential stress”
CNN’s Edward-Isaac Dovere added, “The former president may seem like the easier Republican candidate to beat, as a known quantity who is toxic to many voters, but they’re terrified that if he is the nominee, any fumbles by the campaign or the president himself would enable the return of a candidate they see as a singular threat to American democracy.”
David Igantius opined for The Washington Post Tuesday that Biden should step aside.
“I don’t think Biden and Vice President Harris should run for re-election,” he wrote. “It’s painful to say that, given my admiration for much of what they have accomplished. But if he and Harris campaign together in 2024, I think Biden risks undoing his greatest achievement — which was stopping Donald Trump.”
Jen O’Malley Dillon, a Biden White House deputy chief of staff and former 2020 campaign manager told CNN, “The president has said publicly himself that democracy is still on the ballot. If you believed that to be true the first time, you have to believe that to be more true the second time.”
The outlet also reported that “to the exasperation of several top Biden aides who spoke to CNN, some of the most notable names and biggest checkbooks remain missing,” as big-name Democratic donors appear to be sitting this one out.
As previously reported by Explain America, an ABC News panel was stunned in early September when the first polls showing an essentially tied race began to emerge.
Former DNC chair @DonnaBrazile says the biggest challenge facing Democrats is that “young voters, young Black and Latino voters—they're not ready to come back to the party.”
“Without them, it is a tight race, and it's going to come down to four states.” https://t.co/lCmr9iLfeR pic.twitter.com/XQiDxlyxJf
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 3, 2023
ABC News show “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos saw Donna Brazile, the former DNC Chairwoman & ABC News Contributor explain. “George, when I looked at that recent poll, the Wall Street Journal, I said, “Oh, this could keep me up at night.”
“Look, the problem is, and the biggest challenge we face as Democrats — I say “we” because I’m a Democrat — is that young voters, young black and Latino voters, they’re not ready to come back to the party. They’re not even looking at the so-called messaging that’s being sent to them about the economy, about climate change, about student debt relief. They are worried about their future.
“And right now, they’re looking for a leader who represents their values and their vision. And I think the president’s campaign is going to have to really, you know, go deep and go hard to motivate those voters to come back within the Democratic Party coalition. Because, without them, it is a tight race, and it’s going to come down to four states.”
Stephanopoulos took notice the gravity of Biden’s situation, observing “with every passing month, with every new indictment, Donald Trump seems to be consolidating his control over the Republican Party.”
