David Axelrod, former chief strategist and senior advisor to former President Barack Obama, issued a warning to President Joe Biden about his 2024 campaign strategy.
Axelrod was asked during a CNN appearance on Monday morning about concerns relating to Biden's age and health and said "elections are a choice, they're not a referendum."
"I think part of the challenge for the Biden campaign is to get out of the referendum mode and really focus on Donald Trump," Axelrod said. "Who is an epically flawed candidate."
Axelrod added that Americans' concerns about Biden's age are "a problem" and said that Biden's campaign needs to think about how to "present" Biden and "shift the focus to Donald Trump."
Newsweek reached out to Biden's campaign via email for comment.
The context:
As the November presidential election draws closer, many have questioned Biden's age (81) and if he has the mental capacity to handle another term in the White House.
A recent poll from The New York Times found that 47 percent of respondents "strongly agree" that Biden is too old to be an effective president, and 26 percent said that they "somewhat agree." According to the poll, 14 percent said they "somewhat disagree" with the notion that Biden is too old to be an effective leader.
On the other hand, 21 percent said they "strongly agree" that former President Donald Trump is too old to be an effective president at 77 years old, and 21 percent said they "somewhat agree." The poll found that 23 percent they "somewhat disagree" that Trump is too old and 32 percent said they "strongly disagree."
What we know:
The White House previously said that Biden was not going to take a cognitive test during his physical.
"President Biden is a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency, to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief," Biden's doctor, Kevin C. O'Connor, wrote in the report of his physical last week.
Views:
In a post on Truth Social last week, Trump called on Biden to prove his mental acuity, saying: "Crooked Joe Biden must take a Cognitive Test. Maybe that way we would be able to find out why he makes such terrible decisions. I took two of them, and ACED them both (no mistakes!). All Presidents, or people wanting to become President, should mandatorily take this test!"
Last month, a Department of Justice Special Counsel report into Biden's handling of classified documents said that the president should not face charges noting that "Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.
Speaking to reporters following the Special Counsel report, Biden said, "I am well-meaning. And I'm an elderly man. And I know what the hell I'm doing. I've been president."
"My memory is fine," Biden added in response to the report.
What's next:
As the poll from the New York Times reported, Biden's mental acuity and memory are likely to remain a major topic of discussion ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
The poll also found that 45 percent of respondents believe that Biden is "not capable of handling [the] job as president," compared to 19 percent that said the same for Trump.
Update 3/4/24, 7:57 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 3/4/24, 8:32 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
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