‘Hell Of A Conundrum’: Paul Begala Warns First Dem Politician Who Calls For Biden To Step Down Will ‘End Their Career’

Former Clinton administration official Paul Begala said Friday Democrats faced a “conundrum” following President Joe Biden’s performance in a Thursday debate, and that the first to call for the president to step down would “end their career.”

Biden froze multiple times, appeared to lose his train of thought, appeared stiff and made multiple verbal gaffes during the 90-minute debate moderated by CNN hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. Begala said that Democratic politicians would be risking their political futures because Biden was “beloved” because he defeated Trump in the 2020 election. (RELATED: Joe Scarborough Defended Biden’s Mental Fitness Just Days Ago. Now, He Thinks He ‘May Not Be Up To’ Job)

“Here‘s the risk: If any of them called me, I’d say, ‘Look, the first politician, the first Democratic politician to call on Biden to step down, it‘s going to end their career,’” Begala told CNN host Jim Acosta. “They may be right in the eyes of a lot of Democrats, but if you‘re the first one through the door, you‘re gonna get shot and I think they all know that.”

WATCH:

‘Hell Of A Conundrum’: Paul Begala Warns First Dem Who Calls For Biden To Step Down Will ‘End Their Career’ pic.twitter.com/O2Oe4UiQKC

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 28, 2024

“I mean, look, there‘s a dozen governors in my party, I think, that could be very strong candidates. Maybe not a dozen, maybe half a dozen at least,” Begala continued. “None of them are going to say, ‘Hey, let me step forward and knife Julius Caesar,’ right? It‘s just, like, not — Biden is a beloved man in the Democratic Party, spent his whole life in there. He delivered us from Donald Trump. He is beloved. So it‘s a really, really difficult move for anybody who thinks they might want to replace him.”

Biden’s age and mental fitness were issues before Thursday night’s debate. Biden claimed on Feb. 8 to have spoken with former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, even though Kohl died in 2017, three days after he claimed to have spoken with former French President Francois Mitterrand, who passed away in 1996.

In September 2022, Biden asked for Republican Rep. Jackie Walorski of Indiana, who was killed along with two staffers in an August 2022 motor vehicle accident, during a conference on hunger. Biden has also suffered multiple falls during his term in office, including one at the Air Force Academy in June 2023, falling down while on his bike in June 2022 and stumbling on the steps of Air Force One on multiple occasions.

Special counsel Robert Hur declined to charge Biden in an investigation into his handling of classified documents, describing the president as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” in February.

The presidential debate last night was chilling to watch as President Joe Biden clearly struggled to retain his focus and, at points, seemed hopelessly confused. The winner was clear: Special Counsel Robert Hur…https://t.co/bFjJwLx8wj

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) June 28, 2024

Begala noted that there was another complication for Democrats who wanted to replace Biden, who defeated Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and self-help guru Marianne Williamson to become the party’s presumptive nominee.

“By the way, millions and millions of Democrats have already voted,” Begala told Acosta. “They voted for Joe to be their nominee, so this is — it’s just a hell of a conundrum, it really is.”

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