Dems not pushing Kamala Harris to replace Biden stoking 'more chaos': MSNBC analyst
The Democratic Party is sowing chaos and aiding former President Trump with ongoing talks to replace President Biden with anyone other than Kamala Harris, an MSNBC analyst opined on Wednesday.
Political strategist Basil Smikle appeared on a panel for "MSNBC Reports" to discuss ongoing concerns over Biden following what many considered to be a disastrous performance in his first debate against Trump.
Since the debate, many mainstream media outlets and even some Democratic Party members have begun calling for Biden to step down from the race for a more viable candidate, suggesting people like California Gov. Gavin Newsom or former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Smikle attacked these suggestions for ignoring Vice President Kamala Harris as an option, particularly for the impact it could have on Black voters.
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"The reality is if you’re even going to have a conversation about who’s next. If Kamala Harris, the sitting vice president, is not the first and last name out of your mouth, then tell me how you’re going to get Black voters to engage when you change the rules to accommodate somebody other than her?" he said.
Smikle also criticized the conversation as a whole, arguing that it stokes "more concern" for the party.
"The reality is I hate this open casting call. It’s angering," Smikle said. "I can understand acknowledging that the president didn’t have a good debate, but Democrats should be out there saying that on Joe Biden’s worst day, he is orders of magnitude better than Donald Trump on his best day. Why is that not the prevailing narrative that’s coming out of that debate?"
He added, "All of this conversation to me just stokes more chaos, more concern, more uncertainty among voters and gives Donald Trump and his campaign an opening to say, ‘look at what the Democrats are doing, they don’t have it together.’"
Some media analysts and Democratic figures have endorsed Harris as a potential replacement for Biden should he step down.
"This party should not, in any way, do anything to work around Ms. Harris," Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., told MSNBC on Tuesday.
A new national poll from CNN indicates that three-quarters of voters say the Democratic Party would have a better chance of keeping the White House with someone else other than Biden at the top of the party's ticket.
And the survey, released Tuesday by CNN, suggests that Harris performs slightly better than Biden in a match-up with Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee.