Joe Biden is woefully unprepared to go up against Donald Trump in the 2020 election, having failed to offer a compelling narrative to voters and missing the mark even in “softball interviews,” said the founder of MSNBC and CNBC.
Speaking on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Monday, Tom Rogers voiced concern that the former VP and presumptive Democratic nominee could be heading for a “crisis,” unable to field any “eloquent” or “convincing” critiques of President Trump or his policies, namely his handling of the Covid-19 outbreak.
“It pains me to say this, it really does, but his performance in being able to come up with a compelling narrative and a passionate storyline that really is ready for primetime election season – when it comes to talking about the legacy of Donald Trump … he’s just not there yet,” Rogers said.
Joe Biden is never going to be Obama or Clinton when it comes to being an orator. But when you listen to him on the pandemic, it’s a lot of disconnected phrases, it doesn’t really come together in a very convincing message.
The Biden campaign got off to a somewhat rocky start, struggling to take home votes in the early primary contests, but its fortunes improved as the Democratic field thinned, with a number of moderate candidates dropping out before Super Tuesday and throwing their weight behind the former VP. Biden emerged as his party’s presumptive nominee when Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign and endorsed him last month, but a string of gaffes, shaky debate performances and a poor response to ongoing sexual assault allegations have piqued concerns even among his allies about how he will fare against the pugilistic Trump.
Despite being handed the “perfect opportunity” to articulate himself in a series of “softball interviews” with friendly pundits – as well as rebut sexual assault claims still dogging his campaign – Biden’s “performances have been very unsatisfying,” Rogers went on.
It plays into the Trump critique that he’s been around too long, that he’s confused, that he’s old.
Offering advice to the career politician, Rogers suggested Biden spend the next three weeks doing “mock interviews and simulations,” or whatever else is needed to get Biden in fighting shape, adding that as of now, a viable strategy simply “hasn’t come together.”
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