MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough lost it on Democrats calling on President Joe Biden to step down at the end of his first term following a massive victory for the Democratic Party in Tuesday’s elections.
Biden’s popularity has continued to plummet in the polls one year before the 2024 general election, including among Democratic voters. Prominent liberals in the political and media realms have called on Biden to drop out mostly due to his age and job performance.
Scarborough on Wednesday argued Democrats have repeatedly gained victories under Biden’s leadership, which he said should appeal to voters.
“What is so fascinating about what’s happened the last seven or eight years is Donald Trump won, and Republicans have lost since. Now, when Donald Trump was in power, it made sense that there would be that reaction to the party in power, because traditionally, there always is,” Scarborough said. “But Joe Biden’s been in power since 2020, and Democrats have won in ’21, ’22 and now ’23. There’s not that historic blowback against Joe Biden, and I will just say, if Joe Biden were hated and loathed that much, we would not be seeing Joe Biden’s party winning in ’21, ’22 and ’23.”
“I think a lot of people think he’s too old,” Scarborough continued. “I think a lot of people right now are feeling ambivalent about it. I think a lot of people right now are going ‘Eh, you know, things cost a little bit more than I’d like.’ I think a lot of people right now are just saying ‘no’ to Joe Biden because they can say it in the polls. But I will just tell you, when push comes to shove — and we keep being taught this lesson — there was no red wave in ’22. And in ’23, the bottom was supposed to have fallen out for Democrats and [they had] a massive night.”
Democrats witnessed big victories in the states of Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky, where Virginia regained a full majority in both houses of the state’s General Assembly. Ohio voted to enshrine the right to an abortion into the state constitution in a 57.7% to 42.3% vote. Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear won reelection against Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron in his state.
“[Democrats] won in the state of Kentucky. They won in coal country in Kentucky,” the “Morning Joe” host said. “They won on abortion in Ohio. A state previously where a 10-year-old girl, raped by an illegal immigrant, had to flee the state because of Ohio laws, they were that extreme. They crushed Republicans in Virginia, a shocking outcome! I’m sorry, but there’s almost a trend here.”
Key Democratic and liberal figures, such as CNN’s Van Jones and David Axelrod, have called on Biden to consider retiring, as have former Democratic Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan and Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, who is currently challenging Biden in the primary. Four Democrats — Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Cori Bush of Missouri and Dean Phillips — refused to endorse Biden in April.