MSNBC host Joe Scarborough said the Biden campaign and Democrats think former President Barack Obama is orchestrating an effort to derail President Joe Biden.
Scarborough, one of Biden’s most vocal supporters in the media, threw jabs at the former president and his circle, accusing them of secretly undermining Biden.
“I will say, one thing we do have to underline here, just so viewers can follow — what’s going on behind the scenes is the Biden campaign and many democratic officials do believe that Barack Obama is quietly working behind the scenes to orchestrate this,” Scarborough said about growing Democratic doubts regarding Biden. “If Joe Biden believes that, that’s not going to get him out of the race any faster.”
He then hit former senior Obama adviser David Axelrod, who has been highly critical of Biden since the debate, saying that Biden will only dig in further the more he attacks him.
“Any time the pod bros say something nasty about Joe Biden, which they have repeatedly said nasty things about Joe Biden, before the debate, after the debate, every time they do that, he digs in a little bit further,” he added, referring to Pod Save America, a podcast run by former Obama aides. “The pathway to Joe Biden graciously stepping aside does not go through the Obamas or the Clintons.”
Scarborough, who is close with Biden personally, also revealed the full extent to which the president feels lasting bitterness toward Obama despite their public appearance of friendship.
“Joe Biden is deeply resentful of his treatment under not only the Obama staff but also the way he was pushed aside for Hillary Clinton,” he continued. “He’s deeply resentful of those trying to shove him out of the way. He’s always felt like an outsider, always felt like people have looked down upon him.”
The former Florida representative said the only people who can get through to Biden are former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), former Delaware Sen. Ted Kaufman, former Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, former Secretary of State John Kerry, Biden aide Ron Klain, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), and members of his family.
The host’s remarks come amid the latest flare-up in the two’s relationship: a report that actor George Clooney had run an op-ed asking Biden to step down by Obama before publishing it. The former president reportedly offered no pushback.
At another point in the show, co-host Mika Brzezinski suggested that Obama himself was behind Clooney’s op-ed.
Despite the underlying tension, Obama has been publicly supportive of Biden since the debate rocked the political world, tacking it down to simply a bad night.
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“Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know,” he said in a post on X. “But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight — and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit. Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November.”
But behind closed doors, reports quickly emerged of a harsher analysis from Biden’s former boss. Despite the glowing public statement after the debate, a report from the Washington Post said Obama is privately voicing concerns.