Axelrod post-interview: Biden 'dangerously out of touch' with voter concerns

Democratic strategist David Axelrod warned that President Biden is “dangerously out of touch” with voters on the issue of his age and health following Biden’s highly anticipated sit-down interview on ABC News. 

“The president is rightfully proud of his record. But he is dangerously out-of-touch with the concerns people have about his capacities moving forward and his standing in this race,” Axelrod said in a post on X. “Years ago at this time, he was 10 points ahead of Trump. Today, he is six points behind.” 

Axelrod’s comments came shortly after Biden’s full interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos aired on Friday evening. The interview was the first since Biden’s widely panned debate performance against Trump. 

Throughout the interview, Biden explained his performance as being the result of “a bad night.” 

“I was having a bad night when I realized that even when I was answering a question, when they turned his mic off, he was still shouting, and I let it distract me,” Biden said, referring to former President Trump.

“I realized that I just wasn’t in control,” he added.

Biden also insisted that he was not behind in the presidential race despite polling showing otherwise. 

Prior to the airing of the ABC News interview on Friday, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) became the fourth House Democrat to call on Biden to drop out of the presidential race. Additionally, the Washington Post reported that Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) was working to gather a group of Democratic senators to call on Biden to exit the race.