David Axelrod pinpointed one, specific remark from President Joe Biden that he can't stand.
Axelrod, who previously worked as former President Barack Obama's chief strategist, claimed it drives him "crazy" when Biden "extols the miracle of the Biden economy," during an appearance on Bill Kristol's podcast.
The 81-year-old revealed to Today's Al Roker that he would address concerns about the United States economy by telling critics it's the "strongest" in the world. However, Axelrod took issue with that blunt tactic.
"Instead of sort of doing what you’d expect Joe Biden to do, because he’s a person of empathy who grew up in a working class circumstance, and identify with the concern, he said, ‘You know, I’d tell them we’ve got the strongest economy in the world and, you know, we’re...’ — and he continues to do that," the political consultant explained. "That is the wrong strategy."
"The right strategy is to say, ‘Look, we’ve made a lot of progress from the day I walked in the door as a country and I’m proud of our country for fighting through this pandemic and getting her back to where we’ve got this much employment," he shared. "'But the fact is, the way people experience this economy is the way I did when I was growing up in Scranton, Pennsylvania. How much did you pay for the groceries? How do you afford the gas, the rent? And these continue to be a problem and I’m fighting that fight.'"
"So, I think he needs to put himself on the side of working people in their economic fight here," Axelrod said. "Bottom line, be more like Joe from Scranton and less like President Biden from Washington." .
He further noted that "working class people" of all ethnicities are "the voters who are going to decide this election," but those are also people who are "very much scuffling still in an economy that has improved."
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This comes after First Lady Jill Biden declared she firmly believes her husband will win the upcoming 2024 election despite his dwindling poll numbers.
"No ... He’s coming up. He’s even or doing better," she said of the polls. "Once people start to focus in and they see their two choices, it’s obvious that Joe will win this election."
But Donald Trump's former counselor Kellyanne Conway insisted Jill and others in the current administration are "in denial" about the polls.
"Joe Biden's under water — he's disapproved more than he's approved on all the same approvals in those polls," she claimed in a recent interview. "The horse race is one thing, it's impressive for Trump at this early stage, but it is the handling of the issues and the more negative than positive toward Joe Biden personally and presidentially that is really the problem he has."