If former Barack Obama adviser David Axelrod is angry at reportedly being called a “p***k” by President Joe Biden, he certainly doesn’t appear to be responding with any anger.
He is, however, responding with a blunt assessment of the incumbent president’s re-election bid — and that might sting Biden more than any barrage of insults could actually do.
To wit, Biden allegedly called Axelrod a “p***k” after the former Obama campaign mastermind began openly doubting his re-election bid, according to a scathing Politico Magazine report.
Axelrod’s critiques have been harsh, at least by Democrat operative standards, but rooted in fairness.
That made no matter to the notoriously temperamental Biden, who reportedly ripped into Axelrod with that trademark colorful language.
Well, Axelrod has responded through The New York Times via an opinion piece written by Maureen Dowd and the strategist-turned-pundit didn’t exactly pull his punches when skewering his boss’ former veep.
“I don’t care about them thinking I’m a p***k — that’s fine,” Axelrod told Dowd.
That’s when Axelrod launched his first salvo: “I hope they don’t think the polls are wrong because they’re not.”
While the validity polling comes down to the individual poll, Axelrod is correct that a number of polls are trending in the wrong direction for Biden and his team.
Do you think Biden will be the Democrat nominee in the 2024 general election?
Yes: 23% (7 Votes)
No: 77% (24 Votes)
Most polls show former President Donald Trump is in an effective tie with Biden currently, while a number of polls actually Trump ahead of the incumbent.
Axelrod pointing out this humbling factoid was just the first punch thrown, however.
Next, Axelrod offered a blunt assessment of Biden’s re-election chances, which reflected those very same polls he referenced.
“I think he has a 50-50 shot here, but no better than that, maybe a little worse,” Axelrod said.
“Maybe a little worse” than 50 percent chance at re-election is not where an incumbent president wants to be.
Incumbent presidents also probably don’t want to be compared to failed candidates — and that’s where Axelrod took it next.
“They’ve got a real problem if they’re counting on Trump to win it for them,” Axelrod said, referencing Trump’s deeply polarizing personality playing a role in the 2020 election. “I remember Hillary doing that, too.”
The Hillary comparison has to be a particularly rough one for Biden, given her total and complete defeat in the 2016 general election.
But Axelrod’s most biting comment came in a seemingly throwaway comment referencing the fact that Joe Biden turns 81 tomorrow.
“He thinks he can cheat nature here and it’s really risky,” Axelrod added.
Indeed, whether Biden and his team want to admit it, there’s just not much they can do about the fact that questions surrounding the president’s age will only get worse — not better — given the general direction that time travels in.
So the president can lash out with vulgar insults as much as he wants, but it doesn’t change the cold, hard issues that he and his team will have to address sooner rather than later.
