On Friday night, Chris Hayes didn’t take a strong position on the widespread (among anonymous Democratic Party leaders and pundits) freak out over Joe Biden’s performance the night before in the debate with Donald Trump — though he did worry the President “is probably not the strongest candidate” to defeat his “wildly dangerous opponent.”
But Hayes did comment that Biden is the Democratic Party’s nominee for president — “unless he decides not to be.” Watch the clip below:
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Hayes was of course discussing Thursday night’s Biden-Trump rematch debate, which featured Trump lying, constantly and about everything, up against Biden who was, metaphorically, falling on his face. Biden’s performance was so bad that there are now widespread (and likely unrealistic) calls for him to step down as the nominee. (Though, weirdly, no such calls have been made of his convicted felon opponent who attempted to overthrow the government just four years ago.) You can read more here.
Hayes began by noting that Biden has “been elected office for 50 years plus” and that, “he is quite a capable politician who’s run and won a lot of races in his time, including as a 29 year old young man” who “beat Trump the first time.”
“He’s got a good record,” Hayes said before acknowledging “His future looks a lot more uncertain.”
“The New York Times editorial board took the unprecedented step of calling for Biden to leave the race today, writing that there ‘is no reason for the party to risk the stability and security of the country by forcing voters to choose between Mr Trump’s deficiencies and those of Mr. Biden. It’s too big a bet to simply hope Americans will overlook or discount Mr. Biden’s age and infirmity, they see with their own eyes,’” Hayes quoted.
Acknowledging that all signs indicate Biden doesn’t plan to step down, Hayes continued that doing so would be complicated and would be “a move that will come with its own risk.”
But, he continued, “all that being said, I think the quantitative and qualitative data, the polling and the eye test both tell us that this is probably not the strongest possible Democratic candidate to beat a wildly dangerous man who poses an existential threat to democracy.”
“Ultimately, that’s now for Joe Biden to decide. He won the primary. He got the most delegates. He is a Democratic Party nominee, and he will be the Democratic nominee unless he decides not to be,” Hayes concluded.