Democratic strategist James Carville said President Joe Biden's low polling was cause for concern leading up to the upcoming presidential election this November.
Carville discussed Biden's polling in a recent interview with The New York Times.
“When I look at these polling numbers, it’s like walking in on your grandma naked," Carville said. "You can’t get the image out of your mind."
The Democratic strategist noted Biden's age and frequent gaffes have become detrimental to his public perception, adding the President's age, 81, showed more of a decline than that of former President Donald Trump, 77.
“If you do a focus group, the first thing out of anybody’s mouth is ‘Old,’" Carville continued, "So how do you say we’re going to act like this doesn’t exist?”
“Now don’t tell me that Biden has more energy or cognition than Trump because it’s evident that, yeah, Trump’s got word salads, but he projects energy,” the Democratic strategist continued. “He’s insane. He’s a criminal of the first order. But he does have a little timing and a little sense of humor and knows how to move from one story to the other.” “I don’t think he can do much more than soldier on and let the Democratic groups kick in,” Carville added. According to a February NBC News poll, 76% of voters were concerned with Biden's age while only 34% believed Trump to be mentally and physically unfit for the presidency. "I think that [Biden's] health and age kind of get in the way of his ability to be a good president of the United States," said one Democratic respondent from Wisconsin who previously voted for Biden in 2020, per the outlet. The report, released by special counsel Robert K. Hur, cited Biden was not in a “mental state of willfulness” as their reasoning to not bring charges against him. Hur’s report also cited previous interviews where the then-former vice president “appeared to have significant limitations” in his mental competency. “We conclude that the evidence does not establish Mr. Biden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” the report added, also stating Biden viewed himself as a “historic figure” as his reasoning to retain classified documents.
Biden's mental capability has recently come under intense scrutiny after the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a February report announcing they would not seek criminal charges against the president after finding evidence that Biden “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials” after his tenure as vice president.
Trump currently holds a 2.3-point lead over Biden, according to RealClearPolitics.
