David Axelrod pummels Biden's defiant stance on economy following CNN interview: A 'terrible mistake'
Former Obama adviser and CNN political analyst David Axelrod lambasted President Biden's defiant stance on the economy Wednesday, calling it a "terrible mistake" so much so that it could result in his defeat in the upcoming election.
"I don't understand this," the famed Democratic strategist reacted. "I don't understand all these months later, you know, I thought they spent $25 million mistakenly last fall touting Bidenomics and making the same argument that the president is making here."
In an interview with CNN, Biden attempted to boast about his record despite polls that consistently show dissatisfaction with his handling of the economy and that Americans trust his 2024 rival, former President Trump, on the issue more than him.
"We've already turned it around," Biden insisted before citing one poll showing most Americans claiming they are "personally in good shape" economically.
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He then lashed out at other survey findings, "The polling data has been wrong all along. You guys do a poll at CNN, how many folks do you have to call to get one response? The idea that we're in a situation where things are so bad… When I started this administration, people were saying there's gonna be a collapse in the economy. We have the strongest economy in the world. Let me say that again, in the world."
That attitude did not sit well with Axelrod.
"It is absolutely true. The world was plunged into an economic crisis and America was plunged into an economic crisis by the pandemic and we've come back faster than almost any other country and he's right about that. But that's not the way people are experiencing the economy," Axelrod told CNN's Erin Burnett.
"They're experiencing it through the lens of the cost of living. And he is a man who's built his career on empathy. Why not lead with the empathy?"
He continued, "And I think he's making a terrible mistake… If he doesn't win this race, it may not be Donald Trump that beats him. It may be his own pride."
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Fellow CNN panelist Scott Jennings agreed with Axelrod, calling Biden's economic messaging "incredibly weak."
"You correctly confronted him with the statistics and the polling and he whined about that. And then of course, we went wobbly on Israel," Jennings told Burnett.
"I think he must be mortified when he looks at poll after poll that says the American people trust Donald Trump more on the economy, they trust him to be a strong leader, and they believe that the world is in chaos because he is weak and Trump is strong. It must be mortifying that he can't find a way out of this cul de sac," Jennings added.
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While the White House repeatedly touts strong economic stats, voters at home aren't happy with Biden's job performance. A Fox News poll in March showed only 38% of Americans approve Biden's handling of the economy.
Meanwhile, the RealClearPolitics average of polls continues to show Trump having the edge over Biden in the key swing states that are needed to win the election.