Former Obama administration official David Axelrod warned that President Joe Biden needed to speak “the language of Washington” less and display more “authenticity,” like former President Donald Trump, during a Thursday CNN appearance.
Trump leads President Joe Biden by 0.8% in a national head-to-head matchup, according to the RealClearPolling average of polls, with the lead growing to 2.9% when independent candidates Cornel West and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are included. Axelrod said that one reason Trump was doing well in the election was because he was authentic.
“Authenticity is the coin of the realm in presidential politics,” Axelrod told “The Lead” host Jake Tapper. “One of the reasons I think Trump has gotten as far as Trump has gotten is nobody ever says, ‘Gee, I wish Donald Trump would speak his mind.’ If you look at history, the more authentic candidate tends to win.”
WATCH:
“Joe Biden has his own… authenticity, but sometimes he speaks in the language of Washington sometimes and a lot of people speak in the language that Charlamagne was mocking in that piece on Comedy Central,” Axelrod continued, referencing comments made by the host of “the Breakfast Club during “The Daily Show” Wednesday night. “I do think, listen, there are times when I wonder why Joe Biden, who is from Scranton and has that Scranton chip on his shoulder. Why he doesn’t just say acting like a jackass isn’t strong, that’s not strength, let’s not mistake the two. I mean, he should say stuff like that because that people will understand.”
Axelrod’s warning was echoed by Doug Schoen, who worked as a pollster for Bill Clinton, who said Biden was proposing “tone deaf” policies that did not address issues of concern to Americans, like inflation and the economy, in a Monday Fox News appearance. On the economy, Biden’s average approval rating was only 40% in the RealClearPolling average, while only 35.5% gave him good marks on inflation.
“The chip on the shoulder comes out when he talks to journalists quite often,” Tapper noted.
“It’s misplaced, misplaced,” Axelrod said. “It should, you know, point directly at the other guy.”
