OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Democratic strategist Paul Begala, a CNN contributor, believes that President Joe Biden’s press conference after Special Counsel Robert Hur released his report on his handling of classified documents was a disaster.
On Friday, he voiced his opinions during a panel discussion with CNN anchors John Berman and John Avalon, who announced his departure from the network.
“Well, how much democratic bedwetting do you think there will be? I bring up the term (inaudible),” Berman said.
“It’s a political term of art, John,” Avalon said.
“It is used in democratic being de-politics, is what people say about Democrats. I’m not say anything offensive to Paul’s,” Berman said.
“Delicate sense,” Avalon said.
“Delicate ears. So, how much of that will there be? And if you are the White House, how do you assuage said bedwetting?” Berman said before Begala chimed in.
“Oh yes. Look, I’m a Biden supporter. I slept like a baby last night. I woke up every two hours crying and wet the bed. This is terrible for Democrats, and anybody with a functioning brain knows that. But here’s what you do, instead of calling a press conference saying I really am sharp, you attack the other guy,” the Democrat strategist said.
“You know, Joe Biden gave the strategy in 2012. He was, I remember, he was vice president, and he said don’t compare us to the Almighty compares to the alternative. So everything was Biden has to be not I’m great but the other guy’s really damaging, dangerous, a threat,” he said.
“You know, the — this is an — John is exactly right, right? This is going to be a really rough, ugly, unpleasant campaign. Look at years ago, David Duke, the former Klansman, was running for governor against Edwin Edwards, who had been charged, indicted, and convicted of any number of crimes. Edwin won the campaign with a bumper sticker that said, vote for the crook. It’s important. And they’re going to tell Democrats, look, both for the old guy, support the old guy. It’s important…,” he said.
“So you think they blew it last night? Just to be clear, do you think last night was — it was a mistake to have him out there?” Berman said.
“Well, no. I want to see more of Joe Biden, but the gaps are built in. But instead of simply saying, ‘I’m OK.’ He just simply — he needs to be on the attack 24/7 for the next 269 days,” the strategist said.
WATCH:
And he was not the only Democrat to express concern over the president’s press conference.
Among them was Washington Democratic Rep. Adam Smith, who criticized the way the president handled the press conference the night the report was released, which included snapping and yelling at reporters.
“Clearly, yesterday’s press conference, as you said, I’m a senior Democratic politician. I’ve been doing this for a long time. That’s not the way you want to do it. Okay?” he told CNN. “I think we can all agree on that. He was angry. He was frustrated by what came out. There was not a prepared, clear agenda of, okay, here’s my explanation, here’s what I’m doing. And it didn’t go well, okay? There’s no doubt about that. That needs to get better.
“But again, the most important thing is is he on top of the economy? I mean, look, look at how we have managed to. Everyone said we were going to be in a recession. We’re not now. There is still an affordability crisis. We got to make housing affordable. We got to make food more affordable,” the representative added.
“I like to think of myself as a reasonably articulate person. All right? And I’ve done this a long time. I’ve been in press conferences. I’ve been in town hall meetings where I wish…I shouldn’t have said that. And then you try to fix it, and then you make it worse. Okay? It is not as easy as it looks,” he added.
