Democratic strategist David Axelrod points the finger at longtime Biden aide Mike Donilon for refusing to see the “truth” that President Biden was visibly aging and deteriorating and had a “less than 5 percent chance” of winning against Trump in 2024. “Had he run, Democrats would have lost at least three more Senate seats, probably would have lost some more states. The damage would have been greater,” Axelrod said Sunday on CNN.

JAKE TAPPER: And, David, in what seemed to be an attempt to get ahead of the book, President Biden and first lady Biden went on “The View.” And he still says that if he had stayed in the race, he would have won. What do you think? DAVID AXELROD: Well, I don’t think — I think that’s preposterous. I think he’s being told that by Mike Donilon, his top political aide. And I have known Mike for decades. Mike is a brilliant, brilliant guy. He knows — he was a pollster. He was a media consultant. He knows politics very, very well. I think he’s just so tied to Biden emotionally that he could not accept the truth, which was, it just — it wasn’t there. The analytics before the debate, Jake, that, within the Democratic Party, within both the campaign and outside the campaign, showed him with less than a 5 percent chance of winning. And had he run, Democrats would have lost at least three more Senate seats, probably would have lost some more states. The damage would have been greater. He may need to comfort himself by believing that, but it’s just not true.
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