Carville presses Biden harder to withdraw: ‘If we lose, we lose the Constitution’
Democratic strategist James Carville again, who has become a vocal critic of President Biden in recent days, again asked him to withdraw from the White House race Friday.
In an interview on this week’s “Press Club” podcast from Mediaite, recorded before Biden’s high-stakes press conference concluded the NATO summit, he signaled there is no way forward for the president to win against former President Trump in November.
“If the people don’t want you to win, you’re not going to win,” said Carville, who served as a senior adviser to former President Bill Clinton. “And they clearly don’t want Biden.”
When asked what would happen if Trump were to win reelection, he suggested it would be “the end of the Constitution.”
“I think that you are going to see a destroyed NATO. We’re going to be expressing the values of authoritarianism and totalitarianism. We’re going to continue down the path of lawlessness. I don’t know, what else can I say?” the political pundit replied to Mediaite’s editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin. “They’re already telling it, this whole thing about Project 25, it’s almost predictable.”
“It would be so tragic and so against who we are as a country that you almost want to laugh at it,” he said of the conservative agenda. “But the catastrophe that awaits, and I literally think this, I think it’d be the end of the Constitution. I really do.”
He added, “If we lose, we’ll lose the Constitution.”
His remarks come as Biden continues to experience intense political headwinds following a rocky presidential debate performance last month. While on stage, the incumbent stumbled over his words and spoke with a raspy voice, leading to rising questions among those in his party about his age, mental fitness and ability to recapture the White House.
Multiple Democratic lawmakers from both the upper and lower chambers of Congress have already called on Biden to step out of the race in the wake of the debate performance.
Carville said earlier this week that it is “inevitable” that Biden will drop out of the 2024 presidential race.
“I don’t predict things, I’m just tellin’ ya, it’s inevitable,” the pundit told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo Monday. “He will come to the conclusion. People will get the message to him. He will understand, his family will understand. They’ll pray on it and they’ll make the right decision.”
McLaughlin also asked Carville about his recent op-ed in the New York Times, where he first suggested that Biden would withdraw from the race because he is “experiencing old age, and unlike most people” he has “some vague idea of what the job entails.”
Biden and his allies have been insistent that he is not leaving the race. At his Thursday evening press conference, Biden said he is “the most qualified person to run for president.”
“I believe I’m the best qualified to govern,” the president said. “And I think I’m the best qualified to win. But there are other people who could beat Trump, too. But it’s all start from scratch. And you know, we talk about money raised. We’re not doing bad.”
“The fact is, the consideration is, that I think I’m the most qualified person to run for president. I beat him once, and I will beat him again,” he added.
The president reupped his vow to stay in the race during a rally in Detroit Friday evening, arguing that the voters, not press or politicians, made him the nominee.
NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
