The latest New York Times poll may be enough to convince Democrats that President Joe Biden has to go — and Sen. Ted Cruz says he knows who is waiting in the wings if that happens.
On Fox News’ “FOX & Friends” on Monday morning, the Texas Republican suggested former Barack Obama adviser David Axelrod has signaled the party’s increasing angst over Biden running for a second term and that Axelrod’s recent comments indicate an opening for former first lady Michelle Obama.
The Democrats, Cruz argued, are boxed in by their own identity politics and an inept vice president.
Cruz was reacting to comments made by Axelrod.
On X (formerly Twitter), he wrote, “It’s very late to change horses; a lot will happen in the next year that no one can predict & Biden’s team says his resolve to run is firm.”
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Biden’s poll numbers are beginning to “send tremors of doubt” through the Democratic Party, Axelrod suggested. “Only @JoeBiden can make this decision,” he added. “If he continues to run, he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. What he needs to decide is whether that is wise, whether it’s in his best interest or the country’s.”
Axelrod followed up on Monday, telling CNN, “You can see that in this poll, and there’s just a lot of concern about the age issue, and that is something I think he needs to ponder. Just do a check and say, ‘Is this the right thing to do?’”
As the Tampa Free Press reported Sunday, the New York Times poll of six battleground states showed that Biden trails former President Donald Trump by between four and 11 points in Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Biden leads Trump by just one point in Wisconsin.
Biden won all of those states in 2020.
On Fox News, Cruz noted, “It’s been my view for a long time that Barack Obama has been the person pulling the strings behind Joe Biden. Joe Biden is clearly not up to it. I think Obama is the one making the decisions and Axelrod is Obama’s right hand.”
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“The Democrats are getting scared. Biden is not up to it. Even with his diminished capacity, they don’t think he can do it,” continued Cruz.
“I predicted that there was a very real chance the Democrats would jettison Joe Biden and parachute in Michelle Obama and that they’d do it at the convention next summer. I think the chances of that are rising every day.”
“The reason I say Michelle Obama is, if Biden gets out of the way the person who’s next is Kamala Harris and she’s a very flawed candidate. They know that,” said Cruz.
“In the Democrat Party they can’t push Kamala Harris aside and replace her with a white guy. They can’t drop Gavin Newsom in over an African-American woman and not have their party lose its mind,” he added. “Michelle Obama is the one person who can drop in and do that and not fracture their party.”
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