Political statistician Nate Silver on Monday became the latest strategist to voice their skepticism with President Joe Biden’s ability to run for reelection in 2024.
In a lengthy post on his Substack newsletter, Silver, who founded the data-focused outlet FiveThirtyEight, argued that if Biden cannot run a "normal" reelection campaign, he should “step aside” and yield to another Democratic candidate.
“Democrats would be taking a huge risk by replacing Biden — but they’re also taking a huge risk by nominating him,” Silver wrote in his post. He later adds, “If Biden can’t keep up with the schedule of a typical sitting president running for re-election, or is prone to making errors when he does, voters and the media are going to notice that and Biden will wear his 80+ years like an albatross around his neck.”
The Biden campaign is dismissing Silver's analysis. "We are not going to take our cues from the same guy who mused whether two-term President Obama was 'toast' in 2011," campaign spokesperson Kevin Muñoz said in a statement, referring to a piece the analyst wrote for The New York Times.
The comments from Silver, who has previously voiced doubts about Biden's political prospects, come as Biden and his aides have worked to quell bed-wetting within their ranks and criticism in the media about the president’s age and physical fitness, as well as his electoral prospects against former President Donald Trump.
Earlier this month, former Obama strategist David Axelrod landed in hot water with Biden allies after he made comments on social media questioning whether Biden was the right candidate to lead Democrats forward. Axelrod would go on to backtrack his comments, saying “it’s overreacting to say I told him to drop out.”
Last week, Biden and his campaign seemed to shrug off polls from the New York Times and CNN that suggested the president was trailing Trump in key battleground states.