Even ABC’s Jonathon Karl appears dumbfounded by Biden campaign co-chair’s talking point that polls are swinging in favor of Biden after disastrous debate.
Biden campaign co-chairman Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that Joe Biden was the only Democrat who can defeat former President Donald Trump in November.
Coons began by launching into a fawning speech about how effective and strong Biden was, claiming “it is always a bad bet to bet against Joe Biden.”
But host Jonathon Karl appeared dismayed by Coons’ remarks given the political fallout following Biden’s disastrous debate performance.
“But – but, Senator, as – as you have obviously seen, there is a loud course of people that agree with a lot of what you just said, who were so alarmed by Biden’s debate performance that they say it’s time for him to drop out of the race,” Karl noted, citing The New York Times editorial board calling on Biden to drop out after the debate.
“Now, these are all people who want to stop Donald Trump. Not stop Joe Biden. Is the president listening whatsoever to what these people, who have supported him, are saying?” he asked.
Coons responded that the Philadelphia Inquirer, Pennsylvania’s top newspaper, argued that Republicans should be the ones calling on Trump to drop out “after the torrent of lies and vengeance and anger that he unleashed on that debate stage.”
“I think the The Philadelphia Inquirer got it right and The New York Times got it wrong,” he said.
But Karl again wasn’t having it.
“But I’m not asking you who got it right or wrong. I’m asking you, is President Biden at all listening to, considering what these people are writing?” he asked Coons. “Again, allies of him in the past who were pleading with him to step out of the race. Is he — is he — does he hear it? How’s he reacting to that?”
Coons replied, “Well, the folks that you’re citing there, Jonathan, are The New York Times editorial page.”
“Well, you know it’s not limited to The New York Times,” Karl pointed out.
Coons doubled down, claiming top Democrats like Obama, the Clintons and the White House Cabinet are still behind Biden.
“He is our candidate for November. And he has the best shot to beat him,” Coons said.
A skeptical Karl then asked, “Well, let me ask, you don’t think that Joe Biden is the only Democrat that can beat Donald Trump, do you?”
Coons replied, “I think he’s the only Democrat who can beat Donald Trump.”
“…Really?” Karl asked, dumbfounded.
Coons then insisted that Biden’s polling went up and his campaign saw a major fundraising haul after the debate despite his halting performance.
“The polling I’ve seen after the debate has actually moved in the direction of Joe Biden,” Coons claimed.
“So, I do think it’s for Joe Biden to make any decision about his campaign, his debate prep, his path forward. But I was reassured that the next day we would see the Joe Biden who I’ve seen day in and day out on the world stage, who gave a compelling, strong speech on the beaches of Normandy, who was in command of the room at the G-7 in Italy.”
“OK,” an exasperated Karl said.
Contrary to Coons’ talking point that Biden has seen a bump in polling after the debate, numerous polls show most Americans believe Trump handily defeated Biden in Thursday’s debate.
Additionally, an alarming CBS News poll post-debate found a whopping 72% of Americans don’t think Biden is mentally or physically capable of serving as president.
Coons talking points about Biden were just so ridiculous that even Karl couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
