CNN’s Fareed Zakaria is bearish on President Joe Biden’s re-election chances, saying “trend lines are not working in [his] favor” and that the president must do “something bold” to revive his candidacy.
Zakaria, the host of CNN’s Sunday morning news program “Fareed Zakaria GPS,” told viewers over the weekend that his earlier prediction that Biden would prevail in a re-match with former President Donald Trump was not “playing out as I thought it would.”
Zakaria said that Biden’s economic policies, soaring inflation and the anger felt by some Democratic voters over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war spell trouble for the 81-year-old incumbent as Republicans coalesce around the presumptive nominee, Trump.
“Trump is now leading in almost all the swing states. But behind those numbers lie even more troubling details,” Zakaria said.
“As someone worried about the prospects of a second Trump term, I think it’s best to be honest about reality.”
His comments were reported by Mediaite.
Recent polling indicates that Biden has lost the support of a significant chunk of the progressive wing of his party over the administration’s stance on Israel.
Zakaria noted that just 33% of Americans said they approved of Biden’s handling of the Israel-Gaza crisis as the president has managed to alienate “people who think he is too soft and people who think he is too hard on Israel.”
Biden recently announced a pause in the delivery of weapons to Israel as a sign of the administration’s displeasure over the planned incursion into the south Gaza city of Rafah.
Zakaria also said that Trump is benefiting politically from his legal woes.
“Whatever opposition he faced in the primaries has largely melted away, and the trials against him keep him in the spotlight, infuriate his base, who sees him as a martyr and even may serve to make him the object of some sympathy among people in general who believe that his prosecutors are politically motivated,” Zakaria said.
The CNN host added that he doubted “the New York indictment would have been brought against a defendant whose name was not Donald Trump.”
Trump is on trial in New York over alleged financial crimes related to a supposed “hush money” payment to Stormy Daniels so as to prevent her from talking about an alleged sexual encounter in 2006.
Zakaria said that polling has traditionally under-counted support for Trump since his voters are less likely to admit that they back him.
“I understand that polls are not always accurate, but in general, they have tended to underestimate Donald Trump’s support, not overestimated,” the CNN host said on Sunday.
“I doubt that there are many shy Biden voters in the country.”
Zakaria also predicted that other candidates such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Cornel West and Jill Stein “will probably take votes away from Biden.”
He lamented the fact that Trump is seen by the public as more competent than Biden, which “could be a reflection of people’s sense that the president’s age is affecting his capacity to govern.”
Zakaria said “there’s very little that Joe Biden can do now to change that perception.”
The Post has sought comment from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, theman White House and the Biden campaign.
