'History will not be kind' to Joe Biden as ex-Obama official says president is to blame for Kamala Harris 'debacle'
11/08/2024 08:06 PM
A WHITE House official under Barack Obama has warned that “history will not be kind to Joe Biden,” and says the blame for Kamala Harris’ “debacle” lies squarely with him.
Brett Bruen, former Director of Global Engagement in the Obama White House, slammed President Biden, accusing him of “political malpractice,” for trying to “cling on to power for too long.”
He also accused Obama’s former vice president of not showing enough “accountability” in his speech on Thursday.
Speaking from the White House Rose Garden, Biden gave a self-congratulatory address, claiming he had left the economy far stronger than when he took office.
But his address, which made little mention of Harris, was slammed by many in the Democratic Party and the mainstream media.
Even CNN trashed Biden for “tarnishing his own legacy” in the past year.
Bruen, now President of public affairs agency the Global Situation Room, told The U.S. Sun that the Democrats need to acknowledge where they “came up short” in this week’s election.
That accountability, Bruen said, “is something that was missing from Biden’s concession.”
He contrasted Biden’s claims about the economy and praise for Harris’ campaign with Obama’s response to the “shellacking” the Democrats took in the 2012 legislative elections.
“Biden is going to go down in history as someone who tried to cling on to power for too long,” Bruen said.
“He ought to have been a transition president from the tumultuous times of Trump into a new era, a new generation.”
Bruen added that Biden’s belief his staying in power was for the good of the party and country “was quite frankly political malpractice.”
He said that those around Biden should have told him to step aside far sooner.
“The responsibility for Harris’ loss ultimately rests with Biden,” he said.
“Biden should never have entered this race.”
Bruen also slammed Biden’s refusal to step aside until July, which gave Harris just three months to prepare for the election, without an open primary to validate her candidacy.
“Quite frankly, he needed to give her more permission to distance herself from his policies,” he said.
It comes as…
- Kamala Harris conceded in a phone call to Donald Trump on Wednesday after refusing to speak to the media as he took the lead
- She finally emerged from hiding for a 4 pm ET concession speech where her VP pick Tim Walz was seen crying
- President Biden gave remarks on the election outcome on Thursday morning
- Biden also called Trump and invited him to the White House
- Trump took to the stage in Florida with his entire family at around 2:30 am ET on Tuesday to celebrate his win
- His running mate JD Vance called the victory the “greatest political comeback in American history”
- It came as Republicans took control of the Senate after Ted Cruz was re-elected in Texas
BACK TO THE CENTER
Bruen warned the Dems about veering to the populist left in the wake of their heavy defeat to Donald Trump’s populist right MAGA movement.
Following the devastating results, which saw a Republican win the popular vote for the first time since 2004, veteran independent Senator Bernie Sanders accused the Democrats of “abandoning” their working-class base.
But Bruen said Harris’ defeat, which looks set to see Republicans sweep every swing state, is a sign the party needs to govern from the center.
“The issue that Sanders raises is the right one,” he said. “But the tactic for addressing that issue is not the right one.”
He went on, “Part of the reason why we got ourselves into this situation was the Inflation Reduction Act was some of the prescriptions that Sanders and AOC and others in the squad offered.
“And what a lot of Americans are saying is, we don’t want that level of involvement in social issues.
“We don’t want the government to be handing out a lot of these social programs.”
2024 ELECTION BREAKS RECORDS
NOVEMBER'S election was one of superlatives for the Republicans, and a nightmare for the Democrats.
- Donald Trump won the popular vote, becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to do so since 2004.
- The Republicans made gains in 49 states and in Washington DC, the biggest swing to the party since 1992.
- The party had its best showing with voters aged 18 to 29 in 20 years.
- Republicans outperformed massively among minorities, recording their best showing with Black voters in 48 years, and their best showing with Hispanics in more than 52 years.
- The House Republicans secured their best share of the popular vote in a presidential year since 1928.
He said Obama was able to win two elections with a broad coalition because he governed from the center, and he was a “great communicator.”
Bruen praised Obama for making a stronger case against Trump in the run-up to November’s election.
“Harris has always had a more stilted and quite frankly struggled with communications, going back to the launch of her own presidential campaign in 2020.”
And he called on the Dems to learn from both Trump and Obama on the importance of choosing a candidate who can communicate directly with voters.
“Picking candidates who can be effective spokespeople who can deliver a simple, sticky message is a lot more important these days than somebody who has ticked all of the right political boxes,” he said.
