Democratic pollster Nate Silver has thrown down the gauntlet, calling for President Joe Biden to resign and let Vice President Kamala Harris take over. This comes after Biden’s painfully “incoherent” interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, which left many scratching their heads.
Silver’s comments were sparked by a particularly embarrassing clip from the interview. Stephanopoulos asked Biden if he had watched the debate from the previous week. Biden’s response was a masterclass in confusion.
“Did you ever watch the debate afterwards?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“I don’t think I did,” Biden replied, as if unsure what a debate even is.
Stephanopoulos, clearly trying to make sense of the situation, pressed on. “What were you experiencing as you were going through the debate? Did you know how badly it was going?”
“Yeah, look,” Biden began, then paused awkwardly for what felt like an eternity. “The whole way I prepared, nobody’s fault, mine, nobody’s fault but mine. I prepared what I usually would do sitting down as I did come back with foreign leaders or the National Security Council for explicit detail, and I realized partway through that you know all I get quoted The New York Times had me down ten points before the debate, nine now, or whatever the hell it is. The fact of the matter is what I looked at is that he also lied 28 times. I couldn’t — I mean — the way the debate was ran — my fault, no one else’s fault …”
Stephanopoulos, likely wondering what alternate reality he had stumbled into, tried again. “But it seemed like you were having trouble from the first question in …”
“Well, I just had a bad night,” Biden protested, as if that explained away the entire fiasco.
Silver wasn’t buying it. He took to X to voice his frustration: “This is a pretty incoherent answer including a non-sequitur complaining about a New York Times poll, which he incorrectly claims had him down 10 points before the debate (it was actually 3 or 4 points, depending on which version you look at).”
“I wimped out in today’s column and deleted a line saying he should formulate a plan to transition the presidency to Harris within 30-60 days, but I’m there now. Something is clearly wrong here,” Silver continued. “The most generous way to put it is that he doesn’t seem in command, and that’s an extremely hard sell when you’re Commander in Chief. I continue to think this number is low and Democrats will apply incredible amounts of pressure.”
So, it looks like even loyal Democrats are losing patience with Biden’s performance. With voices like Silver’s getting louder, Biden’s camp might need to brace for some serious turbulence ahead.
