Was President Biden's carefully structured one-hour post-NATO summit press conference enough to keep his re-election campaign alive? Ryan believes so.
'David Axelrod' stops by to offer up his insider take on tensions between the Obamas and Bidens in a wrestling match for control of the Democratic party in the 2024 election.
'David Axelrod' stops by to offer up his insider take on tensions between the Obamas and Bidens in a wrestling match for control of the Democratic party in the 2024 election.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Oh my goodness, it just keepsgetting more and more interesting. The knives
are out, the sharks are circling, the accusations are flaying, the fingers
are pointing, and all for usto enjoy on our side of the aisle
alongside Kelly Cachera, She's right herewith me. It's a two person operation
(00:21):
today. We're going to try todo the Wizard of Oz and pull off
all the magic right before your veryeyes, before you look behind the curtain.
Ryan shuling with you your text fiveseven seven three nine startam, Ryan
and I was going to have ourFriday fool of the Week. And I
always try to avoid the obvious nominationof President Biden, but it's Joe Biden.
(00:41):
I mean, if you watched lastnight, what I took away from
that, and it feels like Ijust left this studio because well I did.
And in fact I heard Dragon inMDB Michael Danger Brown talking about us
this morning. That was that wasinteresting and hilarious. But Dan Kaplis and
I stayed left. We worked overtime, we pulled up our sleeves, we
(01:03):
put on Scranton Joe, and weparsed through the entire press conference. So
you didn't miss a thing. Yougot Dan's commentary, you got mine at
the very end. If you missedit, it's on his podcast as a
special third bonus hour. You canpick that up there if you want to
hear what Dan had to say.And he'll have even more to say tonight,
obviously coming up. But what Itook away from it was the bar
(01:26):
had been set so low after thedebate, and you were expecting this cataclysmic,
disastrous self immolation of Joe Biden onstage for this post NATO press conference,
and I don't believe we got that. And I think that's the best
thing that could have happened for allof us and for Joe Biden a little
bit. There's a part of methat is rooting for him. And I'm
(01:49):
not saying this glibly or tongue incheek. Some of it is that I
acknowledge, but a part of meis like, you know what, no,
you know, double barrel middle fingerto all you so called elites in
the Democratic Party who think you're betterthan us. This party has become such
a contemptible party, the Democratic Party. This used to be one hundred years
(02:10):
ago, maybe even fifty years ago. The party of the working class,
right building front, the bottom up, in the middle out. I mean
that used to be true. JoeBiden, in the way he has run
this administration is not what Joe Bidenwas in the eighties and nineties. I
will give him credit where credit isdue. He was past tense, a
(02:31):
moderate Democrat. He had moderate socialviews on a lot of things like gay
marriage and abortion. He was amodel. He's no longer that Joe Biden,
literally, and it makes sense now, but it should have made sense
anybody listening to this program or toDan or Michael Brown ever since we've been
doing moments of Biden and so forth, that Joe Biden is a shell of
(02:51):
his former self. That should gowithout saying. But the debate performance cemented
that in the minds of Americans whodon't listen to Write Center radio or media
sources, they were shocked and surprised. When you have been buying into a
lie that is fueled by your ownhatred of one man, your own illness,
(03:12):
which is mental trump derangement syndrome,then you seek out fairy tales and
fables and lies that confirm your biases, that make you feel warm and fuzzy,
that make you feel like on awinter's night, you're curled up in
your favorite blanket, you're eating yourfavorite ice cream with your favorite popcorn,
and you're watching your favorite movies onNetflix. Trust me, this is what
(03:37):
liberals diluted themselves into believing. Becausethey hated the Orange Man that badly,
they wanted to be lied to.They were lied to. They believed the
lies, whether it was about Trumpor the mainstream media and everybody in Joe
Biden's circle propping them up and tellingyou not to believe what your lion eyes
(04:00):
were telling you about Joe Biden's decline. Deep fakes, cheap fakes. We
heard all of that. So forall those liars that are suddenly turning around
now and acting indignant and taking shotsat Joe Biden, no no, no,
you reap what you sew and youhave sown the seeds of a Joe
(04:21):
Biden reelect campaign, and you donot get a do over. You don't
get a mulligan. Here. JamesCarville and I want to start with the
Rage in Cajun because this is oneof those guys, you know, kind
of like David Axelrod. I respect. Carville was the brain trust behind an
entire Clinton operation in nineteen ninety two. It's the economy stupid, but it
(04:43):
was more than that. He tooka bubba from the trailer park in Hope,
Arkansas, and turned him into aninternational political phenomenon. And Bill Clinton
did a lot of that on hisown. Again, set aside all the
personal dalliances, proclivities, cucadillos,the things that you detest about Bill Clinton,
focused on the political animal of BillClinton. He was in is a
(05:04):
genius. His campaigning style, hismanner of speaking, his ability to deliver
not just a message but a feelingto make you feel like I feel your
pain. He connected with people ona very visceral personal level. He brought
the Democratic Party folks back from thedead. Jimmy Carter left the carcass of
(05:27):
the Democratic Party in nineteen eighty andRonald Reagan mopped the floor with it.
That was twelve years of Republican ruleat the presidential level, eight years of
Reagan and four of Herbert Walker Bush, and Clinton was behind in his own
primary. To Paul's songis Dick Gephardt. These are the names that were ahead
(05:48):
of him. He was fading inthe polls, and they did a one
eighty a turn because they made BillClinton accessible, and James Carvell was behind
that. So I always want togive him I proper credit. I always
want to give David Axelrod credit.He was a big part of the Obama
phenomenon that won two terms in office. But here's Carville with Andrea Mitchell.
(06:09):
And I don't usually do this alot because I cut these things up.
I can't stand enduring a lot ofthis just bogus crap from the left,
like Dan subjects himself to. Idon't know how he gets through it.
Yeah, things like The View andMorning Joe. But in order to understand
the chaos and the madness in theinsanity that's going on right now over on
(06:31):
their side, you got to readthese tea leaves, and you got to
read them up close. So here'sAndrea Mitchell, as Russia Imbau used to
say on MSNBC with the rage inCajun. I can't, offhand remember five
presidents who were elected and they werein their rap a thirties. Help me
here, I can't help you.I'm sorry. You know somebody's Gyashi follow
(06:58):
up chure, Chuck, you issuegetting anybody, And I think he said
it was the lowest said he'd neverseen. But I for got to move
fast. We can't back check everything. But a little bit of a crisis.
Yeah, Carville is right. Andwhat Andrew Mitchell was talking about approval
ratings in the thirties, which,if you watched the press conference last night,
Joe Biden just dismissed out of handearly a campaign. It really hasn't
(07:23):
even started yet. What are youtalking about, man, It doesn't start
till September, which I was justI was laughing. I was eating it
up. I'm like, you go, Joe Scranton, Joe, get tough.
Joe. You hang in there,Joe. You don't let them push
you around. Yeah, those pollsthey mean nothing. Stand your ground,
man, stay in this race.You earned it kind of you were.
(07:46):
He won the primary. But Carvilleknows that they are heading off the cliff
here, and he is just flabbergastedby it. And you're proposing town halls
with Democrats competing for the nomination withPresidence Clinton and Obama. I'm moderating.
I don't know how you bring thattogether, but you know you're the magician.
You could do it. But isthat chaos is that the recipe for
(08:07):
chaos. And you've got Chicago,the memories of nineteen sixty eight. If
there is no peace bringing out inGaza, you've got demonstrations, you know,
and it might be chaos. I'lltell you what we're doing right now.
We do it exactly what Donald Trumpand Marlago want us to do.
Anybody doesn't believe it. Read TimAlberta, one of the best journalists in
America. And if the Democratic Partyis held bent on pleasing Donald Trump,
(08:31):
then go ahead and do this.It's just that simple. It's not that
simple, though, James. Youhave nobody to blame but yourselves here.
You were locked into Biden thinking youcould pull off this facade, this charade
of him being sentient, when weall knew that he wasn't. The media
was doing its level best to runcover Barry stories, like Chuck Todd did
(08:54):
for two years from a cabinet secretarywho told him this version of Joe Biden
can't run again. There have notbeen cabinet meetings for months going on end
hearing that the last time they hada cabinet meeting that was not pre scripted
was October of last year. Priorto October seventh, and you want to
(09:18):
change horses as we're coming around thebend to head down the stretch. It
doesn't work that way. How manyyears now to correct this course, to
choose a different candidate, to haveviable opposition in the primaries, But they
didn't want to do that. Theychose instead to shield and protect and insulate
(09:39):
Joe Biden. You can't do that. What always happens is a Washington type
here you have Clinton Obama. That'snot going to work. Well, I
don't care, do something. Don'tjust stand there in the way that Washington
kills. Everything is well. Fillin the detail of shames. The details
are will track to. He wasan election to a major criminal who is
(10:03):
going to destroy the Western Alliance,the Constitution, and everything in between.
So we ought to act like it. You can act like that all they
want, but the American people aren'tbuying that. They don't believe that.
They've had four years of Trump.They thought life was pretty good. This
whole threat to democracy crap, it'sout the window. Because the real threat
to democracy we saw on the stagelast night, it's Joe Biden who confuses
(10:24):
his own vice president with I guessvice President Trump, which I kind of
like that idea and then you know, we'll work it out from there.
But confuses also Zelensky with Putin.He's not all there. He's as good
as he's going to get. Thatwas last night, as bad as he's
going to get his debate night.And this whole notion of you can't just
sit there and do nothing, You'vegot to do something. I mean,
(10:45):
this reeks of desperation. And whenyou look behind the Democrat curtain and you
see this unfettered chaos unfolding in frontof our very eyes, I think it's
worse than we think. It'd bebetter for us, but worse for them.
Then I can even imagine, becausethere was another poll that came out
today that showed it it's a deadheat with Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
(11:07):
And even if you sub in Whitmerknew some Harris, it doesn't change that
much, and not surely enough toupset the apple cart and reboot everything.
But Carville, you would think he'sas plugged in as anybody here. He
has asked about the powers that beatop the Democratic Party in d C.
Well, what do you think NancyRacy and Jim Cliburn on Nancy Pelosi,
(11:31):
Chuck Schumer, Maybe how came Jeffries, What do you think they're up to.
I think they've mortified. I thinkthey want to make a change.
I think they see the path thatwe're all people white President Biden for good
reason. He's a very personable man. He has an incredible recon he is
right. There's no one that hasclose to the experience he has in foreign
policy. But the torture passes todifferent generations, and the Democratic courty's got
(11:58):
to refirm youself, and we're losingyoung people like doesn't hardly exist anymore,
and people are crying to change inwe're telling them that you can't have that
it's not good for you, oryou don't have the details flushed out yet.
I got to see a better planin this. I mean think about
(12:18):
it. We are thinking about it. And there does appear to be a
generational divide here. The younger membersof Congress, the Democratic Party throughout the
country. They are rip roarin andready to throw old Uncle Joe overboard.
The older establishment types who have beenthere for a while talking about like the
(12:39):
Pelosis, Cliburns, even Schumer,they're reticent to do this, and I
think there's some wisdom in that.Change for the sake of change is not
a winning strategy. You can't justsay, well, anybody but Biden is
better than what we have now.You don't know that if you think something's
bad, it can always be worse. And I think switching at this point
(13:01):
it shows not only desperation, itshows a complete lack of cohesion within a
party. It sends a message ofinstability to the undecided voters in the middle
of the independence out there, andthey're going to look over at Donald Trump
next week during the Republican National Conventionand see a unified party that is on
message, on point, that isunified behind its candidate, and that has
(13:26):
a clear and cohesive plan for theUnited States going forward. And even if
you don't agree with all of it, when your choices are order versus chaos.
And they tried for years now toclaim that Trump was the chaos candidate,
think about this. Trump is thecandidate of order now. Trump is
the candidate of let's go back tothose years because they were more stable and
(13:48):
my life was better. Trump isthe stable element in this equation, and
he just needs to continue to presenthimself as such, He's been brilliant in
his execution, both on the campaigntrail, in the debate and on the
RNC platform, where he has moderatedsome views, said the dismay of some
(14:09):
conservatives. But Trump has built upbona fides with conservatives by his appointments to
the Supreme Court, which overturned Roev. Way. He's earned those stripes.
I don't think he has to Playkateor cater two. The far right
elements of the Republican Party. They'rein to and they should be. And
it's not like Trump's going rhino ormilk toast or watering down anything. He's
(14:33):
being smart. He is focusing inon kitchen table issues that affect people across
the political spectrum. He is trying, and I think successfully so to bring
across the finish line with him,moderates, independence, maybe center left Democrats
who are disaffected or looking at theirparty going. I don't want any of
that. And they might not comeall the way to vote for Trump,
(14:54):
but they might abandon Biden altogether.They could stay home. They could vote
third part party candidate like RFK orCornell West or Jill Stein. They have
options and off ramps that don't necessarilymean coming all the way across to Trump,
but that option's there. And whatI saw just before coming in here,
MSNBC did a focus group with justa cross sampling of Black voters.
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It was split right down the middle. Black voters are coming out now for
Trump in numbers we have not seensince nineteen sixty and Richard Nixon when it
was two totally different parties back then. So this chaos, this disorder on
that side, it extends too tothe pods Save America Bros. They are
cannibalizing each other. The Biden campand those loyal to Joe are turning on
(15:41):
the Obama camp and those they arefiring shots back. Michael Brown has turned
this as civil war and I wasn'tquite there until what I heard this morning.
I had to go through and editthis. Joe Scarborough said this morning
on Joe Biden's favorite favorite television show, Morning Shoe, that the Biden campaign
told him that they think our oldboss, Barack Obama is orchestrating the push
(16:03):
to get Biden to drop out.He also said Joe Biden is quote deeply
resentful of his treatment under the Obamastaff and the New York Times wrote that
mister Biden's advisors think that David Axelrodand the Podsave America Bros. Are quote
operatives who worked for a cerebral,cool guy president and never understood the world.
According to the scrappy kid from Scranton. Care to respond, my fellow
(16:26):
elitist pod bro, I would sayI have tried to maintain a very even
temper through this process. I havenot been finding people on Twitter. I
have stopped looking. You've been thebest of all of us, You've been
very or the worst one or two. I've been the most offline of us.
That's Jon Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer,the pod Save America Bros. The
(16:48):
Obama Bros. As they're called.And he made a very important comment right
at the end of that that Iwas talking about yesterday. There are people
who are very quote online, youknow. And I am one of the
people by necessity because of this joband what I'm trying to do for you,
our listeners out there that don't havethe time that I have to dedicate
to a lot of this stuff.However, I have the self awareness,
(17:10):
I hope, and the recognition thatI am extremely online So what I see
as a warped perspective maybe from whatthe average American consumes in terms of media,
or reads about or knows about,and that it is a very different
perception and prism that I am viewingthings through than maybe a high perpensity voter
(17:30):
who just does things a different way. So when you see these factions turning
on one another, it is extremelyonline, but it is indicative of where
their heads are at. I findthis situation very personally uncomfortable because we know
all the people who work on thosecampaigns, they are friends of ours.
It's more inferior because it explains whythey act up. The response to this
(17:52):
debate so bad. Oh, becauseit's not about Joe Biden. It is
not everything is now about Joe Biden. It's people are mad at him,
they don't get him. Me meme, me, me me me,
And it's about this election. Wouldyou Joe Biden himself has said, is
the most important election of our time, that democracy at stake, and we
can have a good faith disagreement withoutto this and then this as a political
operative, it's just the incompetence ofspending your time fighting pot save America.
(18:18):
David Axelrod, George Clooney, BarackObama and the most popular figure in the
Democratic Party at a time when youwere struggling with black letters, is being
insane. Yeah, they're turning gunson one another. And that's figuratively speaking,
of course. And what this doesis it allows Donald Trump to just
sit on the sidelines and watch thisparty wither and destroy itself from within.
(18:41):
That was Dan Pfeiffer. Back toJohn Favre again, this from the pod
Save America podcast. Now, Idon't know who's doing it in the White
House, and like I I believefirmly that it's not the people that we
know are friends with, not justbecause they wouldn't do that to us,
but because I think they're smarter this, because this is this is just like
really stupid. And the reason we'rebringing it up in the New York Times
(19:03):
is we know his reporters are reachingout to us that the Biden is just
pushing around stuff on us. Ihad multiple calls from reporters today saying that
two White House sources told them thatI wrote George Clooney's off at. I
think that I was writing George Quiffy'sup at. I mean it was a
very well written up band, soit was kind of like I probably should
have just taken credit for it.Do whatever he wants to us. It's
(19:26):
fine, Like you have bigger fishto fry. Why are you spending time
on us? For go? Justbeat Donald Trump like a helpier candidate,
Be on message and deliver a message. If he was the scrappy kid from
Scranton, I'd be thrilled. We'vebeen advocating that for a couple of years
now. Every time he does Scrantonversus Park Ave and he talks about,
(19:47):
like, you know, fighting formiddle class folks and working class folks.
I love that. Joe Biden.Yeah, I don't think that Joe Biden's
gonna hunt anymore. I don't thinkhe's coming back, and I don't think
people are gonna believe him even ifhe did. So what this in fighting
feels is they haven't settled anything.It's July twelve, the election is November
fifth. Time is running out andJoe's just trying to run out the clock.
(20:07):
One other Colorado congress person has turnedagainst Joe Biden. I'll tell you
who that is and what this personsaid when we come back, send your
text five seven seven thirty nine RyanSchuling on six thirty K how we continue
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tell them Ryan sent you that.I'll take your questions. I've been given
a list of people to call onhere Reuters, Jeff Mason. No,
no, this is supposed to bea big boy press conference. Only little
(22:00):
boys use a pre approved list ofreporters to call on. Joe should know
that, go ahead with your ownlife, leave Joe alone. But unfortunately
that's the thing he leads off with, so you know this is a rigged
press conference, pre approved list ofreporters. They didn't call. And I
noticed this from a post by MichaelBrown on any of the major news outlets,
(22:26):
not just Peter Doocey Fox News.But there was no ABC, there
was no NBC, there was noCBS he stuck to, you know,
like AP and Reuters and these otherwire agencies, maybe that he has a
better relationship with. But it doesharken back to a couple of days ago,
this fissure, this divide between theObama Clinton elite establishment that's trying to
(22:51):
secure this nomination for somebody else andTeam Biden. And as the Podsave America
bros just said, and Joe Scarborough'skind of pointed this out. When daviled
axel Rod speaks, you might aswell be speaking directly to Barack Obama.
Look, I think there's merit toit. You know, sometimes this is
all a matter of risk assessment.There's risk associated with everything. The question
(23:12):
is whether the risk of the statusquo eclipses the risk of trying something else.
And I think we've reached the pointwhere many are have come to that
conclusion. But the thing about thePeace Stanna that I thought was particularly impactful
was Clooney, who just hosted afundraiser, major fundraiser for the president a
(23:33):
few weeks ago in California, saidyou can't win the battle against time.
None of us can. Is devastatingto say, But Joe Biden Joe Biden
I was with three Weekso the fundraiserwas not the Joe Biden of twenty ten.
He wasn't even the Joe Biden oftwenty twenty. He was the same.
And we all witnessed at the debatethat is devastating. That's devastating.
(23:53):
Yeah, that's it, and it'swhat people fear. It might be,
but people fear. But we're luckyenough to be joined now by David Axelrod
to expand on those comments. David, thank you for your time, first
of all, and do you standby that. Why did it take the
debate for George Clooney to finally comeclean of what happened at the fundraiser?
Well, first of all, thankyou for having me Ryan, I never
(24:15):
thought it would be on khow Iknow their political leanings, of course,
but you know, I think youknow what he has been protected. We're
we're now seeing that that the thatthe family and and I have great respect
for Joe Biden in his career.He has been a fantastic leader of this
(24:38):
country in service, but his familyand his closest aides are not giving him
the truth. They're not seeing it, and they have been you know,
completely just in the dark, andthey've kept other people in the dark as
well. And I think maybe somepeople were looking at it as being hopeful
that he could get it together.You know, there was moments of the
(25:00):
State of the Union where he puthis speech together. But it has really
been disappointing that until now people haven'tseen it, but the Biden family hasn't
given us an opportunity to see it. Well. I mean, that's I
think it's all well stated there A. David Axel wrote our guests in studio
happy to have him and Chris Matthews. I mean, if Chris Matthew askes,
(25:22):
you know, he's coming out ofthe woodwork. He's trying to you
know, tell you what, JoeBiden, you should stay right in the
race. Now, Who's he gonnalisten to, Jill or George Clooney.
I'm telling you it's personal. He'shad the elite, and it's so true
about the elite. He is absolutelyright about the elite. Look at President
Obama. He served for eight yearsloyally, and yet Obama in fact Hillary
(25:44):
Clinton for president and didn't back him. I hear he never even invited him
upstairs. He had a good reasonto be resentful, but he isn't.
He puts up with it with theelite. But right now he's got the
poor people, he's got minorities,he's got his fanics. He's going to
put out the labor. He's goingto hold that base of the Democratic Party,
which he will need in November.He'll need it. I'm not sure
(26:07):
if he'll have it. But thenChris Matthews continues, and I'm telling you,
people are gonna end up rooting forhim in October because he won't have
a comeback, and in this elitefashioned attack on him, they're gonna pay
for it, but in the end, they're gonna know voting for him.
So I think Biden will be thelittle guy. He will be the Democrat
in this race, the true Democrat, and he's going to get people to
(26:29):
turn for him in October. It'sgoing to be stunning. He is not
quitting. He is not built toquit. That's what I think, So,
David, he's not quitting. He'snot built to quit. I don't
think Joe wants to quit. Butare the forces around him somehow going to
drive him out of this race?Is that even possible? Well, it
might become too much. And Ido respect Chris Matthews. I think he's
(26:51):
been great on MSNBC, and I'veknown him a long time. But the
problem is is that there's a struggleto love a candidate, and right now
the Democratic Party is really struggling tolove Joe Biden right now. And I
don't think we have time to wait. You know, we have the convention
(27:12):
coming up next month. The lastthing you need is an open convention.
So when I hear October, Imean, could we really go through three
more months of waiting for a mistakefrom Biden or a mistake from his team,
or a misstep. I just don'tknow about that timeline at all.
(27:32):
And the other thing is I understandthat the president's message, and he's had
a great message. I mean,the bipartisan infrastructure bill has been great for
Americans, but he is at thetop of the ticket and I'm not sure
if the little engine that could messagingis going to work for a guy who
has now been at the top ofthe ticket and unfortunately is on the decline
(28:00):
right now. Well, the underdogstory that you point to, does it
have legs? Chris Matthews saying thatthis attack by the elites. And I
said this yesterday. It might makeJoe Biden a more sympathetic figure, kind
of like a Rocky Balboa type.But to your point, David, I
don't know if it's enough. Onthis short kind of track that we have
(28:21):
between now and November. He's gotforces kind of working against him that are
important to winning. I mean,I'm talking about ground game fundraising. Can
Joe Biden do this on his own? You know, I'd like to think
so, But I think the problemis is he has done good stuff,
and he has in his career beenthe little guy. But the problem is
(28:45):
he's not able to convey his messageright now. So he either needs to
have other people do it for him, or he needs to find the strength
to be complete with the American people. As I've always said, action is
about the next four years, sohe can't necessarily talk about the past all
(29:06):
the time. So if you're goingto keep relying on the message of what's
been in the past and not lookingtowards the future, he listen. I
have great respect for him, andhe has done great for this country,
but he is eighty one years old, and the future in this election over
the next four years is whether hecan complete a second term, and watching
(29:27):
the way he is and watching howfew press conferences he's had, it's a
very tough sell. Former top advisorto President Barack Obama, always a student
analysis, David Axelrod, thank youso much for your time today. Thank
you Ryan for having me. Allright, look forward to the next visit.
And this is a referendum election,And David Axelrodd just pointed out the
(29:48):
fact that if you're looking behind,you're probably losing. You're trying to run
on a record. But isn't thatgreat? And then what did the next
four years look like? In additionto that, who is this election of
ro ferendum about? Right now?It's completely a referendum on Joe Biden.
Donald Trump's off in the distance,He's on the sidelines. That's the best
thing that could happen to Donald Trumpbecause the attempt to refocus everything on the
(30:12):
thirty four felony convictions and Donald Trump'sexistential threat to democracy. Nobody's talking about
that right now because everybody's worried aboutold Uncle Joe. A timeout, I'll
get to that letter that Brittany Patterson, Representative seventh District Colorado sent out to
her supporters. She is now callingfor Joe Biden to step down as the
(30:36):
Democratic candidate. Back to wrap uphour number one after this Ryan schuling on
six point thirty, k out,and what concerns do you have about Vice
President Harris's ability to beat Donald Trumpif she were at the top of the
ticket. Look, I wouldn't havepicked Vice President Trump to be vice president.
I think she was not qualified tobe president. Let's storry that would
(31:00):
have been a great plot twist ifhe had picked Donald Trump to be vice
president. You know, that's howit used to work, is whoever lost
the general election, Kelly would becomethe vice president. Well, first of
all, can I just congratulate youon a fantastic interview with David Axelrod that
kind of came out of the clearblue. It was awesome. Congrats on
that. That's a huge get youknow, great that we could put that
(31:21):
together and insight is exactly a littleinsight into the campaign. But yes,
you are correct, that's how itused to be back in the day,
whoever was the second in line orwhat became the vice president. But then
you know, there was a lotof infighting that happened, and that's why
they changed, you know, likea duel between Edin Burr and Alexander Hamilton
didn't go well for Alexander but rightnow and it's not going well for President
(31:45):
Joe Biden either. This from RepresentativeBritney Petterson seventh district. She should be
in a safe district, but shejust issued this statement in the wake of
that press conference last night following theNATO summit quote President Biden is a good
many. I gotta pause right there. He's not. He's a jerk,
(32:06):
a hole who has been a politicalcreature, sponging off the government dime and
your tax dollars in mind for fiftyyears. Not a good guy. Pedaled
his own drug addled son overseas tobag international money that fueled Hunter's addictions that
had him go off on benders,drugs, alcohol, hookers, etc.
(32:28):
Would you do that to somebody thatyou loved. So this whole bull crap
about Joe Biden being a good man, flush that down the toilet. Okay,
forget about ignoring his granddaughter. ThatYeah, Navy joon always remember Navy
Joonan. I'm gonna put up astocking for Navy Jones since the Bidens won't
do it for Christmas. I thinkthat would be the appropriate move anyway.
President Biden is a good man whohas served this country faithfully and admirably over
(32:52):
his decades of service. I hadthe privilege of being an organizer on his
two thousand and eight campaign, andhe's a big reason I went down the
path of book service myself. Ihave deep admiration and love for Joe Biden
all he has done for our country, which is why this decision is so
painful. But my son and myconstituents can't suffer the consequences of inaction at
this critical moment. Joe Biden savedour country once, and I'm joining the
(33:16):
growing number of people in my districtand across the country to ask him to
do it again. Please pass thetorch to one of our many capable Democratic
leaders so we have the best chanceto defeat Donald Trump, who is the
greatest threat to the foundation of thiscountry that we have ever faced. Oh
greater than the Confederacy. Brittany,ha ha ha, that's a laughable one.
(33:37):
Anyway, continuing quote, I wantto thank President Biden from the bottom
of my heart and on behalf ofevery resident of Colorado's seventh congressional district.
You've done so much for our country, and I know you will continue to
do what's right for our future.Unquote. That's like a compliment sandwich or
something. You start off nice andnice, but in the middle, get
the hell out of Dodge, willyou? Joe? Okay, And this
(33:59):
is just it's mind blowing to me. Like one of your many capable Democratic
leaders, where were they in theprimaries? Representative Petterson, If you had
that much of a concern about JoeBiden, and you should have, and
I'm thinking deep down you did,but you didn't want to go public with
it, then somebody suitable should haverun in the primary against Joe Biden,
(34:22):
like oh, I don't know RobertF. Kennedy Junior who wanted to run
and was boxed out. You havenobody to blame, Britney Peterson, but
yourself. Time out. We're backafter this six point thirty k How
Oh my goodness, it just keepsgetting more and more interesting. The knives
are out, the sharks are circling, the accusations are flaying, the fingers
are pointing, and all for usto enjoy on our side of the aisle
alongside Kelly Cachera, She's right herewith me. It's a two person operation
(00:21):
today. We're going to try todo the Wizard of Oz and pull off
all the magic right before your veryeyes, before you look behind the curtain.
Ryan shuling with you your text fiveseven seven three nine startam, Ryan
and I was going to have ourFriday fool of the Week. And I
always try to avoid the obvious nominationof President Biden, but it's Joe Biden.
(00:41):
I mean, if you watched lastnight, what I took away from
that, and it feels like Ijust left this studio because well I did.
And in fact I heard Dragon inMDB Michael Danger Brown talking about us
this morning. That was that wasinteresting and hilarious. But Dan Kaplis and
I stayed left. We worked overtime, we pulled up our sleeves, we
(01:03):
put on Scranton Joe, and weparsed through the entire press conference. So
you didn't miss a thing. Yougot Dan's commentary, you got mine at
the very end. If you missedit, it's on his podcast as a
special third bonus hour. You canpick that up there if you want to
hear what Dan had to say.And he'll have even more to say tonight,
obviously coming up. But what Itook away from it was the bar
(01:26):
had been set so low after thedebate, and you were expecting this cataclysmic,
disastrous self immolation of Joe Biden onstage for this post NATO press conference,
and I don't believe we got that. And I think that's the best
thing that could have happened for allof us and for Joe Biden a little
bit. There's a part of methat is rooting for him. And I'm
(01:49):
not saying this glibly or tongue incheek. Some of it is that I
acknowledge, but a part of meis like, you know what, no,
you know, double barrel middle fingerto all you so called elites in
the Democratic Party who think you're betterthan us. This party has become such
a contemptible party, the Democratic Party. This used to be one hundred years
(02:10):
ago, maybe even fifty years ago. The party of the working class,
right building front, the bottom up, in the middle out. I mean
that used to be true. JoeBiden, in the way he has run
this administration is not what Joe Bidenwas in the eighties and nineties. I
will give him credit where credit isdue. He was past tense, a
(02:31):
moderate Democrat. He had moderate socialviews on a lot of things like gay
marriage and abortion. He was amodel. He's no longer that Joe Biden,
literally, and it makes sense now, but it should have made sense
anybody listening to this program or toDan or Michael Brown ever since we've been
doing moments of Biden and so forth, that Joe Biden is a shell of
(02:51):
his former self. That should gowithout saying. But the debate performance cemented
that in the minds of Americans whodon't listen to Write Center radio or media
sources, they were shocked and surprised. When you have been buying into a
lie that is fueled by your ownhatred of one man, your own illness,
(03:12):
which is mental trump derangement syndrome,then you seek out fairy tales and
fables and lies that confirm your biases, that make you feel warm and fuzzy,
that make you feel like on awinter's night, you're curled up in
your favorite blanket, you're eating yourfavorite ice cream with your favorite popcorn,
and you're watching your favorite movies onNetflix. Trust me, this is what
(03:37):
liberals diluted themselves into believing. Becausethey hated the Orange Man that badly,
they wanted to be lied to.They were lied to. They believed the
lies, whether it was about Trumpor the mainstream media and everybody in Joe
Biden's circle propping them up and tellingyou not to believe what your lion eyes
(04:00):
were telling you about Joe Biden's decline. Deep fakes, cheap fakes. We
heard all of that. So forall those liars that are suddenly turning around
now and acting indignant and taking shotsat Joe Biden, no no, no,
you reap what you sew and youhave sown the seeds of a Joe
(04:21):
Biden reelect campaign, and you donot get a do over. You don't
get a mulligan. Here. JamesCarville and I want to start with the
Rage in Cajun because this is oneof those guys, you know, kind
of like David Axelrod. I respect. Carville was the brain trust behind an
entire Clinton operation in nineteen ninety two. It's the economy stupid, but it
(04:43):
was more than that. He tooka bubba from the trailer park in Hope,
Arkansas, and turned him into aninternational political phenomenon. And Bill Clinton
did a lot of that on hisown. Again, set aside all the
personal dalliances, proclivities, cucadillos,the things that you detest about Bill Clinton,
focused on the political animal of BillClinton. He was in is a
(05:04):
genius. His campaigning style, hismanner of speaking, his ability to deliver
not just a message but a feelingto make you feel like I feel your
pain. He connected with people ona very visceral personal level. He brought
the Democratic Party folks back from thedead. Jimmy Carter left the carcass of
(05:27):
the Democratic Party in nineteen eighty andRonald Reagan mopped the floor with it.
That was twelve years of Republican ruleat the presidential level, eight years of
Reagan and four of Herbert Walker Bush, and Clinton was behind in his own
primary. To Paul's songis Dick Gephardt. These are the names that were ahead
(05:48):
of him. He was fading inthe polls, and they did a one
eighty a turn because they made BillClinton accessible, and James Carvell was behind
that. So I always want togive him I proper credit. I always
want to give David Axelrod credit.He was a big part of the Obama
phenomenon that won two terms in office. But here's Carville with Andrea Mitchell.
(06:09):
And I don't usually do this alot because I cut these things up.
I can't stand enduring a lot ofthis just bogus crap from the left,
like Dan subjects himself to. Idon't know how he gets through it.
Yeah, things like The View andMorning Joe. But in order to understand
the chaos and the madness in theinsanity that's going on right now over on
(06:31):
their side, you got to readthese tea leaves, and you got to
read them up close. So here'sAndrea Mitchell, as Russia Imbau used to
say on MSNBC with the rage inCajun. I can't, offhand remember five
presidents who were elected and they werein their rap a thirties. Help me
here, I can't help you.I'm sorry. You know somebody's Gyashi follow
(06:58):
up chure, Chuck, you issuegetting anybody, And I think he said
it was the lowest said he'd neverseen. But I for got to move
fast. We can't back check everything. But a little bit of a crisis.
Yeah, Carville is right. Andwhat Andrew Mitchell was talking about approval
ratings in the thirties, which,if you watched the press conference last night,
Joe Biden just dismissed out of handearly a campaign. It really hasn't
(07:23):
even started yet. What are youtalking about, man, It doesn't start
till September, which I was justI was laughing. I was eating it
up. I'm like, you go, Joe Scranton, Joe, get tough.
Joe. You hang in there,Joe. You don't let them push
you around. Yeah, those pollsthey mean nothing. Stand your ground,
man, stay in this race.You earned it kind of you were.
(07:46):
He won the primary. But Carvilleknows that they are heading off the cliff
here, and he is just flabbergastedby it. And you're proposing town halls
with Democrats competing for the nomination withPresidence Clinton and Obama. I'm moderating.
I don't know how you bring thattogether, but you know you're the magician.
You could do it. But isthat chaos is that the recipe for
(08:07):
chaos. And you've got Chicago,the memories of nineteen sixty eight. If
there is no peace bringing out inGaza, you've got demonstrations, you know,
and it might be chaos. I'lltell you what we're doing right now.
We do it exactly what Donald Trumpand Marlago want us to do.
Anybody doesn't believe it. Read TimAlberta, one of the best journalists in
America. And if the Democratic Partyis held bent on pleasing Donald Trump,
(08:31):
then go ahead and do this.It's just that simple. It's not that
simple, though, James. Youhave nobody to blame but yourselves here.
You were locked into Biden thinking youcould pull off this facade, this charade
of him being sentient, when weall knew that he wasn't. The media
was doing its level best to runcover Barry stories, like Chuck Todd did
(08:54):
for two years from a cabinet secretarywho told him this version of Joe Biden
can't run again. There have notbeen cabinet meetings for months going on end
hearing that the last time they hada cabinet meeting that was not pre scripted
was October of last year. Priorto October seventh, and you want to
(09:18):
change horses as we're coming around thebend to head down the stretch. It
doesn't work that way. How manyyears now to correct this course, to
choose a different candidate, to haveviable opposition in the primaries, But they
didn't want to do that. Theychose instead to shield and protect and insulate
(09:39):
Joe Biden. You can't do that. What always happens is a Washington type
here you have Clinton Obama. That'snot going to work. Well, I
don't care, do something. Don'tjust stand there in the way that Washington
kills. Everything is well. Fillin the detail of shames. The details
are will track to. He wasan election to a major criminal who is
(10:03):
going to destroy the Western Alliance,the Constitution, and everything in between.
So we ought to act like it. You can act like that all they
want, but the American people aren'tbuying that. They don't believe that.
They've had four years of Trump.They thought life was pretty good. This
whole threat to democracy crap, it'sout the window. Because the real threat
to democracy we saw on the stagelast night, it's Joe Biden who confuses
(10:24):
his own vice president with I guessvice President Trump, which I kind of
like that idea and then you know, we'll work it out from there.
But confuses also Zelensky with Putin.He's not all there. He's as good
as he's going to get. Thatwas last night, as bad as he's
going to get his debate night.And this whole notion of you can't just
sit there and do nothing, You'vegot to do something. I mean,
(10:45):
this reeks of desperation. And whenyou look behind the Democrat curtain and you
see this unfettered chaos unfolding in frontof our very eyes, I think it's
worse than we think. It'd bebetter for us, but worse for them.
Then I can even imagine, becausethere was another poll that came out
today that showed it it's a deadheat with Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
(11:07):
And even if you sub in Whitmerknew some Harris, it doesn't change that
much, and not surely enough toupset the apple cart and reboot everything.
But Carville, you would think he'sas plugged in as anybody here. He
has asked about the powers that beatop the Democratic Party in d C.
Well, what do you think NancyRacy and Jim Cliburn on Nancy Pelosi,
(11:31):
Chuck Schumer, Maybe how came Jeffries, What do you think they're up to.
I think they've mortified. I thinkthey want to make a change.
I think they see the path thatwe're all people white President Biden for good
reason. He's a very personable man. He has an incredible recon he is
right. There's no one that hasclose to the experience he has in foreign
policy. But the torture passes todifferent generations, and the Democratic courty's got
(11:58):
to refirm youself, and we're losingyoung people like doesn't hardly exist anymore,
and people are crying to change inwe're telling them that you can't have that
it's not good for you, oryou don't have the details flushed out yet.
I got to see a better planin this. I mean think about
(12:18):
it. We are thinking about it. And there does appear to be a
generational divide here. The younger membersof Congress, the Democratic Party throughout the
country. They are rip roarin andready to throw old Uncle Joe overboard.
The older establishment types who have beenthere for a while talking about like the
(12:39):
Pelosis, Cliburns, even Schumer,they're reticent to do this, and I
think there's some wisdom in that.Change for the sake of change is not
a winning strategy. You can't justsay, well, anybody but Biden is
better than what we have now.You don't know that if you think something's
bad, it can always be worse. And I think switching at this point
(13:01):
it shows not only desperation, itshows a complete lack of cohesion within a
party. It sends a message ofinstability to the undecided voters in the middle
of the independence out there, andthey're going to look over at Donald Trump
next week during the Republican National Conventionand see a unified party that is on
message, on point, that isunified behind its candidate, and that has
(13:26):
a clear and cohesive plan for theUnited States going forward. And even if
you don't agree with all of it, when your choices are order versus chaos.
And they tried for years now toclaim that Trump was the chaos candidate,
think about this. Trump is thecandidate of order now. Trump is
the candidate of let's go back tothose years because they were more stable and
(13:48):
my life was better. Trump isthe stable element in this equation, and
he just needs to continue to presenthimself as such, He's been brilliant in
his execution, both on the campaigntrail, in the debate and on the
RNC platform, where he has moderatedsome views, said the dismay of some
(14:09):
conservatives. But Trump has built upbona fides with conservatives by his appointments to
the Supreme Court, which overturned Roev. Way. He's earned those stripes.
I don't think he has to Playkateor cater two. The far right
elements of the Republican Party. They'rein to and they should be. And
it's not like Trump's going rhino ormilk toast or watering down anything. He's
(14:33):
being smart. He is focusing inon kitchen table issues that affect people across
the political spectrum. He is trying, and I think successfully so to bring
across the finish line with him,moderates, independence, maybe center left Democrats
who are disaffected or looking at theirparty going. I don't want any of
that. And they might not comeall the way to vote for Trump,
(14:54):
but they might abandon Biden altogether.They could stay home. They could vote
third part party candidate like RFK orCornell West or Jill Stein. They have
options and off ramps that don't necessarilymean coming all the way across to Trump,
but that option's there. And whatI saw just before coming in here,
MSNBC did a focus group with justa cross sampling of Black voters.
(15:18):
It was split right down the middle. Black voters are coming out now for
Trump in numbers we have not seensince nineteen sixty and Richard Nixon when it
was two totally different parties back then. So this chaos, this disorder on
that side, it extends too tothe pods Save America Bros. They are
cannibalizing each other. The Biden campand those loyal to Joe are turning on
(15:41):
the Obama camp and those they arefiring shots back. Michael Brown has turned
this as civil war and I wasn'tquite there until what I heard this morning.
I had to go through and editthis. Joe Scarborough said this morning
on Joe Biden's favorite favorite television show, Morning Shoe, that the Biden campaign
told him that they think our oldboss, Barack Obama is orchestrating the push
(16:03):
to get Biden to drop out.He also said Joe Biden is quote deeply
resentful of his treatment under the Obamastaff and the New York Times wrote that
mister Biden's advisors think that David Axelrodand the Podsave America Bros. Are quote
operatives who worked for a cerebral,cool guy president and never understood the world.
According to the scrappy kid from Scranton. Care to respond, my fellow
(16:26):
elitist pod bro, I would sayI have tried to maintain a very even
temper through this process. I havenot been finding people on Twitter. I
have stopped looking. You've been thebest of all of us, You've been
very or the worst one or two. I've been the most offline of us.
That's Jon Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer,the pod Save America Bros. The
(16:48):
Obama Bros. As they're called.And he made a very important comment right
at the end of that that Iwas talking about yesterday. There are people
who are very quote online, youknow. And I am one of the
people by necessity because of this joband what I'm trying to do for you,
our listeners out there that don't havethe time that I have to dedicate
to a lot of this stuff.However, I have the self awareness,
(17:10):
I hope, and the recognition thatI am extremely online So what I see
as a warped perspective maybe from whatthe average American consumes in terms of media,
or reads about or knows about,and that it is a very different
perception and prism that I am viewingthings through than maybe a high perpensity voter
(17:30):
who just does things a different way. So when you see these factions turning
on one another, it is extremelyonline, but it is indicative of where
their heads are at. I findthis situation very personally uncomfortable because we know
all the people who work on thosecampaigns, they are friends of ours.
It's more inferior because it explains whythey act up. The response to this
(17:52):
debate so bad. Oh, becauseit's not about Joe Biden. It is
not everything is now about Joe Biden. It's people are mad at him,
they don't get him. Me meme, me, me me me,
And it's about this election. Wouldyou Joe Biden himself has said, is
the most important election of our time, that democracy at stake, and we
can have a good faith disagreement withoutto this and then this as a political
operative, it's just the incompetence ofspending your time fighting pot save America.
(18:18):
David Axelrod, George Clooney, BarackObama and the most popular figure in the
Democratic Party at a time when youwere struggling with black letters, is being
insane. Yeah, they're turning gunson one another. And that's figuratively speaking,
of course. And what this doesis it allows Donald Trump to just
sit on the sidelines and watch thisparty wither and destroy itself from within.
(18:41):
That was Dan Pfeiffer. Back toJohn Favre again, this from the pod
Save America podcast. Now, Idon't know who's doing it in the White
House, and like I I believefirmly that it's not the people that we
know are friends with, not justbecause they wouldn't do that to us,
but because I think they're smarter this, because this is this is just like
really stupid. And the reason we'rebringing it up in the New York Times
(19:03):
is we know his reporters are reachingout to us that the Biden is just
pushing around stuff on us. Ihad multiple calls from reporters today saying that
two White House sources told them thatI wrote George Clooney's off at. I
think that I was writing George Quiffy'sup at. I mean it was a
very well written up band, soit was kind of like I probably should
have just taken credit for it.Do whatever he wants to us. It's
(19:26):
fine, Like you have bigger fishto fry. Why are you spending time
on us? For go? Justbeat Donald Trump like a helpier candidate,
Be on message and deliver a message. If he was the scrappy kid from
Scranton, I'd be thrilled. We'vebeen advocating that for a couple of years
now. Every time he does Scrantonversus Park Ave and he talks about,
(19:47):
like, you know, fighting formiddle class folks and working class folks.
I love that. Joe Biden.Yeah, I don't think that Joe Biden's
gonna hunt anymore. I don't thinkhe's coming back, and I don't think
people are gonna believe him even ifhe did. So what this in fighting
feels is they haven't settled anything.It's July twelve, the election is November
fifth. Time is running out andJoe's just trying to run out the clock.
(20:07):
One other Colorado congress person has turnedagainst Joe Biden. I'll tell you
who that is and what this personsaid when we come back, send your
text five seven seven thirty nine RyanSchuling on six thirty K how we continue
after these words, folks, It'sone hundred degrees fahrenheit out there, actual
(20:30):
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tell them Ryan sent you that.I'll take your questions. I've been given
a list of people to call onhere Reuters, Jeff Mason. No,
no, this is supposed to bea big boy press conference. Only little
(22:00):
boys use a pre approved list ofreporters to call on. Joe should know
that, go ahead with your ownlife, leave Joe alone. But unfortunately
that's the thing he leads off with, so you know this is a rigged
press conference, pre approved list ofreporters. They didn't call. And I
noticed this from a post by MichaelBrown on any of the major news outlets,
(22:26):
not just Peter Doocey Fox News.But there was no ABC, there
was no NBC, there was noCBS he stuck to, you know,
like AP and Reuters and these otherwire agencies, maybe that he has a
better relationship with. But it doesharken back to a couple of days ago,
this fissure, this divide between theObama Clinton elite establishment that's trying to
(22:51):
secure this nomination for somebody else andTeam Biden. And as the Podsave America
bros just said, and Joe Scarborough'skind of pointed this out. When daviled
axel Rod speaks, you might aswell be speaking directly to Barack Obama.
Look, I think there's merit toit. You know, sometimes this is
all a matter of risk assessment.There's risk associated with everything. The question
(23:12):
is whether the risk of the statusquo eclipses the risk of trying something else.
And I think we've reached the pointwhere many are have come to that
conclusion. But the thing about thePeace Stanna that I thought was particularly impactful
was Clooney, who just hosted afundraiser, major fundraiser for the president a
(23:33):
few weeks ago in California, saidyou can't win the battle against time.
None of us can. Is devastatingto say, But Joe Biden Joe Biden
I was with three Weekso the fundraiserwas not the Joe Biden of twenty ten.
He wasn't even the Joe Biden oftwenty twenty. He was the same.
And we all witnessed at the debatethat is devastating. That's devastating.
(23:53):
Yeah, that's it, and it'swhat people fear. It might be,
but people fear. But we're luckyenough to be joined now by David Axelrod
to expand on those comments. David, thank you for your time, first
of all, and do you standby that. Why did it take the
debate for George Clooney to finally comeclean of what happened at the fundraiser?
Well, first of all, thankyou for having me Ryan, I never
(24:15):
thought it would be on khow Iknow their political leanings, of course,
but you know, I think youknow what he has been protected. We're
we're now seeing that that the thatthe family and and I have great respect
for Joe Biden in his career.He has been a fantastic leader of this
(24:38):
country in service, but his familyand his closest aides are not giving him
the truth. They're not seeing it, and they have been you know,
completely just in the dark, andthey've kept other people in the dark as
well. And I think maybe somepeople were looking at it as being hopeful
that he could get it together.You know, there was moments of the
(25:00):
State of the Union where he puthis speech together. But it has really
been disappointing that until now people haven'tseen it, but the Biden family hasn't
given us an opportunity to see it. Well. I mean, that's I
think it's all well stated there A. David Axel wrote our guests in studio
happy to have him and Chris Matthews. I mean, if Chris Matthew askes,
(25:22):
you know, he's coming out ofthe woodwork. He's trying to you
know, tell you what, JoeBiden, you should stay right in the
race. Now, Who's he gonnalisten to, Jill or George Clooney.
I'm telling you it's personal. He'shad the elite, and it's so true
about the elite. He is absolutelyright about the elite. Look at President
Obama. He served for eight yearsloyally, and yet Obama in fact Hillary
(25:44):
Clinton for president and didn't back him. I hear he never even invited him
upstairs. He had a good reasonto be resentful, but he isn't.
He puts up with it with theelite. But right now he's got the
poor people, he's got minorities,he's got his fanics. He's going to
put out the labor. He's goingto hold that base of the Democratic Party,
which he will need in November.He'll need it. I'm not sure
(26:07):
if he'll have it. But thenChris Matthews continues, and I'm telling you,
people are gonna end up rooting forhim in October because he won't have
a comeback, and in this elitefashioned attack on him, they're gonna pay
for it, but in the end, they're gonna know voting for him.
So I think Biden will be thelittle guy. He will be the Democrat
in this race, the true Democrat, and he's going to get people to
(26:29):
turn for him in October. It'sgoing to be stunning. He is not
quitting. He is not built toquit. That's what I think, So,
David, he's not quitting. He'snot built to quit. I don't
think Joe wants to quit. Butare the forces around him somehow going to
drive him out of this race?Is that even possible? Well, it
might become too much. And Ido respect Chris Matthews. I think he's
(26:51):
been great on MSNBC, and I'veknown him a long time. But the
problem is is that there's a struggleto love a candidate, and right now
the Democratic Party is really struggling tolove Joe Biden right now. And I
don't think we have time to wait. You know, we have the convention
(27:12):
coming up next month. The lastthing you need is an open convention.
So when I hear October, Imean, could we really go through three
more months of waiting for a mistakefrom Biden or a mistake from his team,
or a misstep. I just don'tknow about that timeline at all.
(27:32):
And the other thing is I understandthat the president's message, and he's had
a great message. I mean,the bipartisan infrastructure bill has been great for
Americans, but he is at thetop of the ticket and I'm not sure
if the little engine that could messagingis going to work for a guy who
has now been at the top ofthe ticket and unfortunately is on the decline
(28:00):
right now. Well, the underdogstory that you point to, does it
have legs? Chris Matthews saying thatthis attack by the elites. And I
said this yesterday. It might makeJoe Biden a more sympathetic figure, kind
of like a Rocky Balboa type.But to your point, David, I
don't know if it's enough. Onthis short kind of track that we have
(28:21):
between now and November. He's gotforces kind of working against him that are
important to winning. I mean,I'm talking about ground game fundraising. Can
Joe Biden do this on his own? You know, I'd like to think
so, But I think the problemis is he has done good stuff,
and he has in his career beenthe little guy. But the problem is
(28:45):
he's not able to convey his messageright now. So he either needs to
have other people do it for him, or he needs to find the strength
to be complete with the American people. As I've always said, action is
about the next four years, sohe can't necessarily talk about the past all
(29:06):
the time. So if you're goingto keep relying on the message of what's
been in the past and not lookingtowards the future, he listen. I
have great respect for him, andhe has done great for this country,
but he is eighty one years old, and the future in this election over
the next four years is whether hecan complete a second term, and watching
(29:27):
the way he is and watching howfew press conferences he's had, it's a
very tough sell. Former top advisorto President Barack Obama, always a student
analysis, David Axelrod, thank youso much for your time today. Thank
you Ryan for having me. Allright, look forward to the next visit.
And this is a referendum election,And David Axelrodd just pointed out the
(29:48):
fact that if you're looking behind,you're probably losing. You're trying to run
on a record. But isn't thatgreat? And then what did the next
four years look like? In additionto that, who is this election of
ro ferendum about? Right now?It's completely a referendum on Joe Biden.
Donald Trump's off in the distance,He's on the sidelines. That's the best
thing that could happen to Donald Trumpbecause the attempt to refocus everything on the
(30:12):
thirty four felony convictions and Donald Trump'sexistential threat to democracy. Nobody's talking about
that right now because everybody's worried aboutold Uncle Joe. A timeout, I'll
get to that letter that Brittany Patterson, Representative seventh District Colorado sent out to
her supporters. She is now callingfor Joe Biden to step down as the
(30:36):
Democratic candidate. Back to wrap uphour number one after this Ryan schuling on
six point thirty, k out,and what concerns do you have about Vice
President Harris's ability to beat Donald Trumpif she were at the top of the
ticket. Look, I wouldn't havepicked Vice President Trump to be vice president.
I think she was not qualified tobe president. Let's storry that would
(31:00):
have been a great plot twist ifhe had picked Donald Trump to be vice
president. You know, that's howit used to work, is whoever lost
the general election, Kelly would becomethe vice president. Well, first of
all, can I just congratulate youon a fantastic interview with David Axelrod that
kind of came out of the clearblue. It was awesome. Congrats on
that. That's a huge get youknow, great that we could put that
(31:21):
together and insight is exactly a littleinsight into the campaign. But yes,
you are correct, that's how itused to be back in the day,
whoever was the second in line orwhat became the vice president. But then
you know, there was a lotof infighting that happened, and that's why
they changed, you know, likea duel between Edin Burr and Alexander Hamilton
didn't go well for Alexander but rightnow and it's not going well for President
(31:45):
Joe Biden either. This from RepresentativeBritney Petterson seventh district. She should be
in a safe district, but shejust issued this statement in the wake of
that press conference last night following theNATO summit quote President Biden is a good
many. I gotta pause right there. He's not. He's a jerk,
(32:06):
a hole who has been a politicalcreature, sponging off the government dime and
your tax dollars in mind for fiftyyears. Not a good guy. Pedaled
his own drug addled son overseas tobag international money that fueled Hunter's addictions that
had him go off on benders,drugs, alcohol, hookers, etc.
(32:28):
Would you do that to somebody thatyou loved. So this whole bull crap
about Joe Biden being a good man, flush that down the toilet. Okay,
forget about ignoring his granddaughter. ThatYeah, Navy joon always remember Navy
Joonan. I'm gonna put up astocking for Navy Jones since the Bidens won't
do it for Christmas. I thinkthat would be the appropriate move anyway.
President Biden is a good man whohas served this country faithfully and admirably over
(32:52):
his decades of service. I hadthe privilege of being an organizer on his
two thousand and eight campaign, andhe's a big reason I went down the
path of book service myself. Ihave deep admiration and love for Joe Biden
all he has done for our country, which is why this decision is so
painful. But my son and myconstituents can't suffer the consequences of inaction at
this critical moment. Joe Biden savedour country once, and I'm joining the
(33:16):
growing number of people in my districtand across the country to ask him to
do it again. Please pass thetorch to one of our many capable Democratic
leaders so we have the best chanceto defeat Donald Trump, who is the
greatest threat to the foundation of thiscountry that we have ever faced. Oh
greater than the Confederacy. Brittany,ha ha ha, that's a laughable one.
(33:37):
Anyway, continuing quote, I wantto thank President Biden from the bottom
of my heart and on behalf ofevery resident of Colorado's seventh congressional district.
You've done so much for our country, and I know you will continue to
do what's right for our future.Unquote. That's like a compliment sandwich or
something. You start off nice andnice, but in the middle, get
the hell out of Dodge, willyou? Joe? Okay, And this
(33:59):
is just it's mind blowing to me. Like one of your many capable Democratic
leaders, where were they in theprimaries? Representative Petterson, If you had
that much of a concern about JoeBiden, and you should have, and
I'm thinking deep down you did,but you didn't want to go public with
it, then somebody suitable should haverun in the primary against Joe Biden,
(34:22):
like oh, I don't know RobertF. Kennedy Junior who wanted to run
and was boxed out. You havenobody to blame, Britney Peterson, but
yourself. Time out. We're backafter this six point thirty k How
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