Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Biden’s polling said Trump would win at least 400 electoral votes before president quit the race, Obama’s aide claims

A speechwriter for Obama said those in Biden’s circle refused to believe polling that showed he was unpopular

Alex Lang
Friday 08 November 2024 23:36 EST
0Comments
Joe Biden on US election result: Setbacks are unavoidable but giving up is unforgivable

A former speechwriter for Barack Obama said Joe Biden had polling that showed he would get crushed by Trump in the election - and that his vice president would likely face a similar fate.

Still, the president pushed Kamala Harris as the choice to replace him.

“The Biden campaign’s own internal polling at the time when they were telling us he was the strongest candidate, showed that Donald Trump was going to win 400 electoral votes,” Jon Favreau said on the Pod Saves America podcast.

“That’s what their own internal polling said.”

A former speechwriter for Obama says Biden’s own summer polling showed him getting crushed by Donald Trump come November
A former speechwriter for Obama says Biden’s own summer polling showed him getting crushed by Donald Trump come November (EPA)

Biden ended up dropping out of the race over the summer after a series of gaffes and concern about his age. He quickly endorsed Harris to replace him on the top of the ticket.

Calls for a primary were quickly muted as Democrats also backed Harris, allowing her to secure the nomination weeks later.

On Tuesday, Harris lost the electoral college with Trump securing at least 295 votes - Nevada and Arizona have yet to be called.

Trump also won the popular vote for the first time in three elections. He currently has about 73.6 million total votes to Harris’s 69.3 million.

Speechwriter Jon Favreau described Biden’s initial decision to run for reelection as a “catastrophic mistake”
Speechwriter Jon Favreau described Biden’s initial decision to run for reelection as a “catastrophic mistake” (AP)

Favreau described Biden’s initial decision to run for reelection as a “catastrophic mistake.”

The former speechwriter said those in his circle refused to believe polling that showed he was unpopular. They also kept talking about the economy’s success and refused to realize people were upset about inflation, Favreau said.

After Biden’s disastrous debate, he kept telling people that he was the best candidate, Favreau said. His circle was also telling reporters that Harris couldn’t win, the speechwriter claimed

“So, they were shivving Kamala Harris to reporters while they told everyone else, not a time for an open process,” he said.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

0Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in