Axelrod urges Biden to ‘Go or Get Moving’

David Axelrod ramped up his criticism of Joe Biden this week, telling the president he needs to “get out or get going” with his 2024 reelection bid.

The Democratic strategist and former Obama adviser was interviewed by CNN Monday about a Politico report that claimed Biden called Axelrod a “p****” for making negative remarks about his campaign strategy.

“He wouldn’t be the first, I guess, in my many years in politics,” Axelrod told CNN. “Listen, I understand he was irritated because I raised concerns that many, many Democrats had. And again, my feeling is either get out or get going. But the status quo, the way they were approaching the campaign, this sort of ‘What me, worry?’ attitude about the campaign was not going to get him to where he needs to go.

“And the stakes are so high,” he continued. “This isn’t Mitt Romney or John McCain or anybody else on the other side. This is Donald Trump. It’s a fundamental question as to what American democracy is going to look like the day after the next election.”

Predicting that former President Donald Trump will ultimately win the 2024 Republican nomination, Axelrod said Biden needs to work harder in a rematch against his 2020 election opponent.

“So the stakes are very high,” he said. “He knows that, but I think he needs to take a sober look at the whole landscape. And yes, he’s committed to moving forward, I get that, but he ought to then look at what his campaign is doing and what they need to do, and get out of this sort of referendum frame and go after Donald Trump every day because Donald Trump will be the nominee of the Republican Party.”

He added that he hoped his critical analysis would prompt the Biden campaign to reevaluate its 2024 strategy and “turbocharge” the race with an element of competition.

President Biden’s reelection effort has been shaken by a series of recent polls showing him losing to Trump in several key battleground races.

Last week, a New York Times/Siena College poll showed Trump ahead of Biden by an average of 48% to 44% in five of the six most important swing states. According to the poll, Biden is losing to Trump by 3 to 10 percentage points among registered voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.

When asked about Trump gaining ground in the recent swing state polls, Biden told reporters they “don’t read the polls” and insisted he’s beating Trump in eight out of 10 surveys.