During a recent segment on CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Jake Tapper criticized President Biden for making what he called a “nonsensical” claim about Vice President Kamala Harris potentially beating President-elect Donald Trump. Tapper pointed out that Harris had already run against Trump and lost, making Biden’s statement illogical.
Biden had told reporters that he believed Harris could have beaten Trump, attributing his decision to drop out of the race to a desire to unify the Democratic party. Former Biden communications aide Kate Bedingfield defended the president’s statement, suggesting that he was simply acknowledging Harris’s strong campaign efforts.
Despite Biden’s insistence that he could have defeated Trump in the general election, CNN’s polling expert Harry Enten disputed these claims, labeling them as “bonkers” based on the polling data available at the time. Enten pointed out that Biden was consistently behind Trump in the polls and had never led in any of the 2024 election data.
Overall, Tapper and Enten both criticized Biden’s statements about the 2024 election and Harris’s chances against Trump, with Tapper suggesting that Biden may have been attempting to backtrack after recent comments questioning Harris’s qualifications.
