“Pod Save America” host Jon Favreau advised Democrats who aspire to run for president in 2028 to “rip the f‑‑‑ing Band-Aid off” and say that former President Biden shouldn’t have run last year.
“The answer is, he shouldn’t have run for a second term. And when he did run for a second term, he should have stepped down much earlier after the debate, and his close advisers shouldn’t have told him to run again, and they shouldn’t have told him he was going to win,” Favreau, a former top aide to then-President Obama, said during a Friday episode of his “Pod Save America” podcast.
“I think that every Democratic politician, particularly those who want to lead the party and want to run in 2028, have to just rip the f‑‑‑ing Band-Aid off,” Favreau added.
Favreau’s remarks came as the podcast’s co-hosts were discussing Biden’s Thursday appearance on ABC’s “The View.”
While on “The View,” Biden denied reporting that he suggested to former Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic Party nominee, to have “no daylight” between his and her positions on issues.
“First of all, I never advised her against that,” Biden said during his first major U.S. television interview since President Trump took office on Jan. 20. It was Biden’s second postpresidency interview after talking to the BBC earlier this week.
He also acknowledged that he felt a degree of responsibility for Trump’s victory, while defending his decision not to drop out sooner.
Some Democrats have criticized Biden, contending his reemergence in the public scene is hindering the party in its effort to recuperate after suffering losses in the 2024 election.
Others argued the former president must “take responsibility for his actions” and “own up to the fact that he caused Democrats to lose.”
“I don’t think there’s a willingness to cop to the fact that he should never have run again in the first place,” one Democratic Party strategist told The Hill. “Why can’t he come out and acknowledge that part of this is on him?”
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