Axelrod Warns Biden Press Conference Showed No One Is Being ‘Candid’ With Him About His ‘Very, Very Slim’ Odds of Beating Trump

Veteran Democratic Party strategist David Axelrod warned after President Joe Biden’s Thursday night press conference that it sounded like “ Biden’s team has not been very candid with him” about his current political standing.

Biden received largely positive marks for his lengthy presser on Thursday night during the NATO summit in Washington, DC – despite a few missteps including referring to Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump.”

As the presser wrapped, the president was asked if he believed he was the best candidate to defeat Trump in November given the growing calls for him to step aside.

“If what he said at the end of his presser is true, it sounds like Biden’s team has not been very candid with him about what the data is showing: the age issue is a huge and potentially insurmountable concern and his odds of victory are very, very slim,” Axelrod wrote after the presser. Axelrod, who was a chief architect of Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 wins, has long been viewed as having a contentious relationship with Biden.

Axelrod appeared to be referring to Biden saying, “How accurate does anybody think the polls are these days? I can give a series of polls where you have likely voters, me versus Trump, where I win all the time. And when unlikely voters vote, he wins sometimes. So bottom line is all the polling data right now, which I think is premature because the campaign really hasn’t even started. I mean, hasn’t started in earnest yet. Most of the time it starts well after September, after Labor Day. So a lot can happen. But I think I’m the best call I know. I believe I’m the best qualified to govern, and I think I’m the best qualified to win.”

Biden was asked a follow-up question during the presser, “You earlier explained confidence in your vice president. If your team came back and showed you data that she would fare better against former President Donald Trump, would you reconsider your decision to stay in the race?”

“No. Unless they came back and said, there’s no way you can win,” Biden replied before entering into his whisper voice and saying that hasn’t happened.

Watch above.

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