Former Obama official 'incredibly concerned' about Biden campaign as polls move toward Trump
Marie Harf says Democrats 'going to lose' if White House doesn't shift gears
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A Democrat and former Obama administration official issued a stark warning to the Biden campaign for not taking dismal polling "seriously" amid mounting calls from Democrats for Biden to drop out of the race.
Fox News contributor Marie Harf, a former State Department deputy spokesperson, explained why Biden's sliding approval rating since his debate against former President Trump should prompt the Biden campaign to strategize on how to turn his political trajectory around during "America's Newsroom."
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"I am incredibly concerned that the Biden team doesn't have a plan to turn this campaign around, that we are going to lose in November, and that they are dismissing concerns that voters have across this country about whether President Biden can win and can govern for another four years," Harf told Bill Hemmer on Wednesday.
"They're not taking this as seriously as they should."
As the future of Biden's re-election campaign faces growing hurdles, six key swing states have shifted in favor of Trump, according to the Cook Political Report.
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Arizona, Georgia and Nevada were previously predicted to be toss-up states, but since Biden's faulty debate performance last month, all three battleground states are now considered leaning Republican.
Nebraska, New Hampshire and Minnesota were all previously likely Democrat states, and now are considered to be only leaning Democrat.
"I think why so many of us Democrats right now are concerned and are pushing for Joe Biden to take a really serious look at this campaign is because his campaign, since the debate, has said it didn't change the state of the race. 'Look at the polling. Look at the polling. It's still a toss-up.' And what's so concerning about some of the polling you just mentioned, including from Fox, including from the Cook Political Report, is that the polls are moving away from Joe Biden, and the campaign has spent a lot of time attacking Democratic lawmakers like my former boss, Seth Moulton, like, Democratic pundits like myself, people out there asking questions instead of spending all that time trying to figure out how to turn this campaign around," Harf said.
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BIDEN RESISTS MOUNTING PRESSURE TO STEP ASIDE
"I think that there's a lot of frustration that they are trying to turn the page and say, 'We're not having this conversation about the debate anymore,' but the problem, Bill, is that voters are having that conversation," she continued. "It's not just pundits, it's not just members of Congress."
Many Democrats have called on Biden to step out of the 2024 race since his debate against Trump, despite the fact he has vowed to continue his candidacy amid significant age-related concerns.
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Several House Democrats have called on Biden to drop out, including Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Rep. Raúl Grijalva, Rep. Seth Moulton, Rep. Mike Quigley, Rep. Angie Craig, Rep. Adam Smith and Rep. Mikie Sherrill.
Meanwhile, Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet became the first Democrat in the Senate to voice concerns about the future of Biden's campaign. He told CNN's Kaitlin Collins Trump could win with a "landslide" victory since the "disastrous" debate.
"Donald Trump is on track, I think, to win this election, and maybe win it by a landslide, and take with him the Senate and the House," he said. "So for me, this isn’t a question about polling. It’s not a question about politics. It’s a moral question about the future of our country."
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"The White House, in the time since that disastrous debate, I think, has done nothing to really demonstrate that they have a plan to win this election," Bennet continued.
This comes after congressional Democrats met for a closed-door meeting to reportedly discuss their private concerns about Biden on Tuesday, as internal party divisions continue to fuel concerns about the president's political future.