Former Clinton aide Paul Begala warns 'walls are closing in' on Biden campaign
Former Clinton aide and CNN commentator Paul Begala warned that the majority of Democrats he's spoken to want President Biden to drop out of the race.
President Biden's re-election campaign is all but over, CNN political commentator and former Bill Clinton strategist Paul Begala projected on Thursday.
"I've been talking to a lot of people, a lot of members in the Senate and House, major donors, activists, party chairs and I got to tell you, I think I‘ve come across one who is still ridin’ for Biden," Begala said candidly on CNN. "So the walls are closing in."
For weeks, Biden has resisted calls from a growing faction in his party to step down from the race. New reports this week show top Democratic leaders are now privately meeting with the president to urge him to step aside, fearing he cannot win against his GOP rival, former President Trump.
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Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime Biden ally, has made this argument in private calls to the president, according to CNN. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has also "forcefully" argued to Biden that it would be best if he "bowed out of the race," according to a report from ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl.
Begala stressed that Biden "has to" listen to this advice because all signs show his presidential bid is in dire jeopardy.
"It's like that Carrie Underwood song, ‘Jesus, take the wheel,’ I’ve been saying, ‘Nancy, take the wheel,’" he joked.
"It comes down to money, maps and polls. The money has dried up," he continued. "I can tell you that I raised money for a lot of super PACs. It has dried up. Donors are on strike, to the tune of, somebody reported, $90 million? It's more like $300 million that people are sitting on saying they're not going to give."
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The president's fundraising is cratering as major liberal donors withdraw their financial support to the party following his disastrous debate performance in June. According to a report in Variety last month, celebrity backers of the president have also threatened not to give any more money to the Democratic Party while Biden remains on the ticket.
Biden is also losing support from Democratic strongholds and voters in swing states, Begala warned.
"The maps are deteriorating so fast that the lieutenant governor of New York says it's now a swing-state. People talk about losing New Jersey. Minnesota and the polling is terrible, especially in the swing states. So you can‘t fight money maps and polls in this business," he continued.
Despite mounting pressure to step aside, the Biden campaign told the media on Thursday morning that he has no plans to drop out of the race.
"Our campaign is not working through any scenarios where President Biden is not at the top of the ticket. He is and will be the Democratic nominee, Biden principal deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said.