(HorizonPost.com) – CNN contributor David Axelrod on Tuesday suggested that the Biden reelection campaign better “get into gear” if it wanted to defeat Donald Trump in the general election, The Hill reported.
The former Obama advisor appeared as part of a panel discussion during “CNN This Morning” to discuss Trump’s victory in Monday’s Iowa Caucus.
Trump secured 51 percent of the vote, nearly 30 points over second-place finisher Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley came in third with 19.1 percent while Vivek Ramaswamy finished a far distant fourth with only 8 percent.
Ramaswamy immediately suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump for the nomination.
Axelrod suggested that President Biden’s reelection campaign needed a message that is more than just calling Donald Trump a threat to democracy. He said the campaign must also focus on the everyday concerns of voters.
Axelrod also said the quiet part out loud, suggesting that the Biden campaign should be “happy” with the prospect of facing Donald Trump in November, explaining that Biden can now start attacking Trump.
CNN contributor Kate Bedingfield, the former Biden White House communications director, agreed that the Biden campaign should increase messaging on broader issues but insisted that voters are motivated by the president’s warnings about Trump being a threat to democracy.
Axelrod described Trump as “a pretty formidable candidate” and suggested that his win in Iowa showed that he would be the Republican nominee.
David Axelrod has been raising the alarm for months over President Biden’s poor polling in a hypothetical rematch with Donald Trump.
In November, Axelrod suggested that the time for Biden to decide not to seek reelection was running out.
In an interview with Politico last week, Axelrod expressed frustration over people who dismiss concerns over the polls or Biden’s reelection strategy, calling the indifference to the concerns “deeply, deeply unhelpful.”
He told Politico that many of Biden’s “really smart and committed supporters” are concerned and it would be “tone-deaf” to dismiss what they are saying.
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