Biden Advisor Rips Dems for ‘Melting Down’ and Replacing Him After Trump Debate: ‘Lots of People Have Terrible Debates’
Mike Donilon, a longtime advisor to former President Joe Biden, blasted the Democratic Party for “melting down” and replacing the then-sitting president as his party’s nominee after his botched debate performance last summer.
Donilon explained that poor debate performances are common and that a rush to replace Biden on the ticket with then-Vice President Kamala Harris was in his mind reactionary.
The comments were made last week during a discussion at Harvard but a video of them began to circulate on social media Saturday when Axios reporter Alex Thompson posted them.
“Now, lots of people have terrible debates,” he said. “Trump had a terrible debate against Harris, right? Regan had a terrible debate, Obama had a terrible debate. Lots of people have terrible debates. Usually, the party doesn’t lose its mind. But that’s what happened here. It just– it just melted down.”
Biden’s former chief strategist added Biden being forced out was “insane.” The Harvard Crimson reported of Donilon’s remarks:
In a wide-ranging post mortem at the IOP Thursday evening, Donilon remained adamant that the former president would “still be the best” for the job – despite his poor performance in a June debate.
[…]
Donilon, a member of Biden’s inner circle for over 40 years, denounced claims that the president’s acuity and judgment declined as an “impression” perpetuated by the media.
In another clip posted by Thompson, Donilon noted Biden was the only person to ever defeat Trump in an election.
One of the reasons Donilon says Biden ran:
“He believed he was the best person to beat Trump and the truth is, as we sit here today, he is the only person who has ever beat Trump. No one else has ever done it.” pic.twitter.com/wKtR9nxn9q
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) February 22, 2025
“In 2020, Joe Biden got 81 million votes in America,” he said. “That’s more votes than anyone has gotten in history.”
