A former speechwriter for Barack Obama said Joe Biden had polling that showed he would get crushed by Trump in the election - and that his vice president would likely face a similar fate.
Still, the president pushed Kamala Harris as the choice to replace him.
“The Biden campaign’s own internal polling at the time when they were telling us he was the strongest candidate, showed that Donald Trump was going to win 400 electoral votes,” Jon Favreau said on the Pod Saves America podcast.
“That’s what their own internal polling said.”
Biden ended up dropping out of the race over the summer after a series of gaffes and concern about his age. He quickly endorsed Harris to replace him on the top of the ticket.
Calls for a primary were quickly muted as Democrats also backed Harris, allowing her to secure the nomination weeks later.
On Tuesday, Harris lost the electoral college with Trump securing at least 295 votes - Nevada and Arizona have yet to be called.
Trump also won the popular vote for the first time in three elections. He currently has about 73.6 million total votes to Harris’s 69.3 million.
Favreau described Biden’s initial decision to run for reelection as a “catastrophic mistake.”
The former speechwriter said those in his circle refused to believe polling that showed he was unpopular. They also kept talking about the economy’s success and refused to realize people were upset about inflation, Favreau said.
After Biden’s disastrous debate, he kept telling people that he was the best candidate, Favreau said. His circle was also telling reporters that Harris couldn’t win, the speechwriter claimed
“So, they were shivving Kamala Harris to reporters while they told everyone else, not a time for an open process,” he said.
