CNN’s Van Jones warned Democrats Tuesday that former President Donald Trump’s recent primary victories reveal how Republican voters “are not afraid” of President Joe Biden.
Trump won the first-in-the-nation primary in New Hampshire against former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley by roughly eight points, the Associated Press projected. The former president recently won the Iowa Caucus with a historic 51% of the vote, placing him on track to secure his party’s nomination.
Jones said Trump’s neck-and-neck competition against Biden spells bad news for Democrats.
“Part of what we’re looking at as Trump’s strength, his resilience, is really a reflection of Biden’s fragility. Republicans are not afraid of Joe Biden,” Jones said. “They’re not afraid. They don’t think that by putting up somebody this damaged, frankly this deranged, with this many deficits, is gonna hurt them at all. Because the polls show over and over again, that even with 978 felonies, he’s still neck-and-neck with Biden. And so it’s a warning sign, you’re correct there’s some warning signs for Trump, but this should be warning signs for Democrats.”
Recent polls have found Trump leading Biden in several key battleground states in a hypothetical 2024 general election. A CNN/SSRS poll from Dec. 11 found Trump leading the incumbent president by 10 points, and an Oct. 11 Emerson College poll found Trump with a nine-point lead. (RELATED: Trump Widens Lead Over Biden In New 2024 Poll)
Trump is also leading Biden in Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and Arizona, according to a Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll from Jan. 8. His strongest lead was shown to be in Florida by 11 points, and he further dominated in Georgia by eight points.
A growing number of Democrats have even called on Biden not to run for re-election given his age and negative polling. CNN’s David Axelrod suggested that it may not be “wise” for Biden to remain in the race, and Democratic Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal said Biden’s 2024 campaign “is in great trouble.”