WH Comms Chief Bedingfield Pushes Back on CNN Poll Showing 75% of Dems Want Other Primary Candidates: Biden Still Beats Trump
White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield pushed back when asked about a negative CNN poll result by pointing out that President Joe Biden still beats former President Donald Trump head-to-head.
On Friday morning’s edition of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, co-host Willie Geist wrapped up a wide-ranging interview with the outgoing comms director by asking about a question from the new CNN/SSRS poll.
Democratic-leaning voters were asked “Who do you think the Democratic Party should nominate as the party’s candidate for president in 2024?”
Twenty-five percent said “Nominate Biden in 2024,” while 75 percent responded “Nominate a different candidate in 2024.”
Geist repeatedly pressed Bedingfield on the data point, and she cited Biden’s performance against Trump in head-to-head polling, as well as the recent breakthrough on a reconciliation bill in the president’s favor:
WILLIE GEIST: Part of it, probably contributing to some of the numbers we’ve seen, including in a poll yesterday from CNN that showed 75% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters don’t want the president to run for reelection. It’s not the only poll that’s shown something similar. How do you explain numbers like those, Kate?
KATE BEDINGFIELD: Well, one thing I’d say is these polls also show that Democrats and the American people choose President Biden in a head to head against Donald Trump if he were to run for president.
WILLIE GEIST: That’s right.
KATE BEDINGFIELD: So there, you know, I think what we’ve seen is the president has put forward an agenda that is building the economy from the bottom up and the middle out. He is ensuring that we reclaim our place on the world stage. He is committing to the things that he promised to do when he ran for president. And, you know, the other thing I’d say, you mentioned inflation. Of course, American families are focused on inflation. So is President Biden. It’s why he’s taken steps to try to bring gas prices down. It’s why he’s supporting the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which is going to lower health care costs and lower energy costs. So he is relentlessly focused on this, just as American families are, and he understands what they’re going through and he’s doing everything in his power to bring prices down.
WILLIE GEIST: So with all that said, are you surprised when you see a number like that in the CNN poll that three-quarters of Democrats don’t want the president to run again?
KATE BEDINGFIELD: Look, I think polls go up and down. And it’s understandable that at a time when people are feeling anxious about inflation, you would see some of that manifest in the polls. But again, what I would say is, you know, Joe Biden won the presidency with 81 million votes in 2020. He is making good on the things that he promised to do. We, again, we saw enormous progress last night in this breakthrough in terms of the Inflation Reduction Act. And he’s committed to doing the things that he said he would do when he ran. And I think that’s what the American people are looking for, and he’s continuing to do that every day.
Biden does beat Trump head-to-head in some recent polls, but Trump comes out ahead in many as well in what are generally close surveys. But Biden does perform better against Trump than any other Democrat being polled.
Watch above via MSNBC.
