On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “José Díaz-Balart Reports,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), who has called for President Joe Biden to leave the race, stated that, “There have been countless examples, even since the debate, that [make] it clear that the President is struggling to run a schedule” but that’s just him struggling to run a campaign schedule, which is “a higher level than doing the job as president.”
Smith said, “[W]hat became clear in that debate and what we were worried about even before the debate and what has been even further clarified since the debate, the President is not capable of delivering the message in an effective way. And I don’t see how anyone could debate that. There have been countless examples, even since the debate, that [make] it clear that the President is struggling to run a schedule and be able to do interviews and give speeches and really prosecute the case against Donald Trump.”
Later, host José Díaz-Balart asked, “Congressman, you said that the President struggles to even run a schedule. If he struggles to even have a schedule, do you think that he should be President right now?”
Smith answered, “He struggles to run a campaign schedule, okay? He struggles to run — look, campaigns are hard. I’ve seen people run for president. I remember Bill Clinton at the end of the ’92 campaign — or ’96, I can’t remember which one — his voice was gone. … Because he’d been on the road. He’d been giving speech after speech, interview after interview all across the country. Look — and I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, I think Joe Biden is perfectly capable of being President. Running a campaign in this environment is a whole different thing, okay? It is incredibly demanding in this environment. And that is my point. You’re out there giving speech after speech, flying all across the country, to deliver that message, that is a higher level than doing the job as president.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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