CNN’s Kasie Hunt pressed Biden campaign co-chair Mitch Landrieu to answer whether President Biden would consider dropping out of the 2024 race in a testy exchange Friday.
Hunt confronted Landrieu after a number of media figures, including New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, called on Biden to step down after his debate performance on Thursday.
“Sir, do you think Democrats should consider replacing Joe Biden at the top of the presidential ticket? I’ve had several [people] raise the possibility privately in conversations,” Hunt asked Landrieu.
“This is a conversation that’s been going on for the past two and a half years,” Landrieu responded. “It’s not likely to happen.”
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“The president might have lost the debate on style but he won it on facts, he won it on decency,” Landrieu said.
Hunt also pressed Landrieu to answer whether Democrats felt lied to by Biden’s inner circle as to his ability to serve as president.
“Do you feel at all misled by Democrats very close to President Biden who have insisted that there has been no change in this man over the course of the last two years that would impact his ability to serve another four years?” Hunt asked Landrieu.
“No, not at all,” Landrieu said.
Landrieu admitted that the president did not give an especially strong performance in his debate with former President Trump.
“[Biden] started off slow last night,” Landrieu said. “I think he had a rough time last night, there’s no question about it.”
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“If Joe Biden loses this election to Donald Trump — so many in your party see this as an existential fight over democracy — will he be to blame for a second Trump term?” Hunt asked Landrieu.
“[Biden’s] going to be the nominee,” Landrieu said.
A flash poll conducted by CNN following the presidential debate showed Trump soundly defeating Biden.
The CNN poll posted on air showed that 67% of debate watchers felt that Trump won the debate compared to 33% who believed Biden won. Following 2020’s final debate between the two, a CNN’s poll showed that 53% of viewers felt Biden won compared to 39% who said Trump won.
The Biden campaign declined to comment after a request from Fox News Digital.
Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
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