President Joe Biden’s prime-time interview Friday was “not good enough” to assure that former President Donald Trump won’t win this fall, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro said.
“I think the most chilling was when [George] Stephanopoulos asked him, ‘Well, what if you lose to Donald Trump, then how are you gonna feel?’” Castro, who served under former President Barack Obama, told MSNBC’s “Alex Wagner Tonight.”
“President Biden said, ‘Well, as long as I gave it my all,’ that basically that he would feel OK,” said Castro. “That’s not good enough for the American people. That’s not good enough with the stakes of Donald Trump winning.”
Biden’s interview with ABC’s Stephanopoulos was to have aired Sunday but was moved to Friday night as calls grow for Biden to step down from the presidential race after his shaky performance against Trump in the June 27 CNN debate.
Biden was “steadier” in Friday night’s interview than he was in the debate, Castro said, but he believes the president is “basically in denial” about his decline and his poll numbers.
“Sadly, President Biden is not the campaigner he was in 2020 — and looks very likely to lose to Trump, one of the weakest candidates in presidential history,” he added. “I am convinced that a number of other Democrats, including Vice President [Kamala] Harris, stand a better chance of winning.”
Castro has been saying that Biden should leave the race. On Tuesday, he posted on X: “Joe Biden is a good man and has been a good president. But last week’s debate disturbingly demonstrated that he is unable to effectively prosecute the case against Donald Trump—much less inspire and mobilize voters to the polls.”
