NBC News' Chuck Todd reveals 'senior' cabinet secretary told him in 2022 Biden 'can't run again like this'
MSNBC analyst Chuck Todd claimed a senior cabinet secretary told him in 2022 that they barely interacted with Biden and he “can’t run again like this."
NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd claimed on Wednesday a senior cabinet secretary told him in 2022 that Biden couldn’t run again.
The former "Meet the Press" host discussed dwindling confidence in Biden’s campaign on his podcast "The Chuck Toddcast" with Politico columnist Jonathan Martin. While floating potential exit paths for Biden to step down, both criticized Democratic Party members for refusing to publicly voice their concerns.
"The politicians of the Democratic Party in the last few days have shown that a lot of them don’t have the courage of their convictions. They simply aren’t going to stand up and say in public what they’ve been telling folks like us in private for years. This is not a new story," Martin said.
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Todd recounted, "I had a cabinet secretary two years ago, two years ago, out of the blue asked me, ‘Do you really think he’s gonna? He can’t run again like this.’ And I said, ‘Well, you have more action with him than I do.’ And they said, ‘I don’t have a lot of interaction with him.’ This is a pretty senior cabinet secretary. This was two years ago."
He added, "It’s the classic open secret, the nonversation. It’s the story everybody knows, and that everybody was afraid to talk about."
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for a response.
Todd was also critical of Biden's insistence on staying in the race, arguing that this could change history’s view of the 46th president.
"Everything I’ve learned, it has made me rethink a lot of the Biden biography. I still can’t believe he ran for president in the first place, given that his family was in crisis in 2018. You look at what has happened, I can’t believe he has put his family through this. And now, looking at his behavior now, in clinging to this, I think the entire narrative on Joe Biden is gonna change. Everything’s always been about his ambition and his ambition comes first," he said.
"There is no evidence he can serve four years," he added, a sentiment expressed by ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday.
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Todd also called out the Biden administration for failing to understand why some Democrats are frustrated with the president.
"The issue you have is there’s been no self-reflection. There’s been no grace, if you will. He’s attacked his own party members without simply acknowledging, ‘I get it. I understand why you’re concerned,’" Todd said.
"The reason people are angry at him is not because they don’t like him. They’re angry at him because they’re afraid of Donald Trump. And the fact that he doesn’t acknowledge that feeling I think is why he’s not getting the benefit of the doubt from elected officials as he should," he added.
Todd didn't immediately respond for comment.
Since Biden’s first presidential debate against Trump back in June, House Reps. Angie Craig, D-Minn.; Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas; Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz.; Seth Moulton, D-Mass.; Mike Quigley, D-Ill.; Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J.; and Adam Smith, D-Wash., have called for Biden to withdraw from the race.
On Tuesday, Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., became the first Senate Democrat to remark that he did not believe Biden could win re-election in November.