Biden blasts ‘elites’ urging him to exit race in surprise interview

"I don’t care what the millionaires think.”

If he made this the tagline for his entire campaign / next term, I'd feel much better about voting for him.

That was Bernie's tagline (well, billionaires rather than millionaires) before the DNC came together like Voltron to simultaneously consolidate around Biden and boot him out of the race.
- It felt extra bad when even Liz was in on it.
Last I heard he was listening to his family, all of which happen to be millionaires, including himself.
He's just another arrogant, out of touch, privileged elite with no understanding of what the majority of Americans experience day to day.
His hubris was on full display in Friday's interview, the stakes are clearly not the same for him. He has enough wealth and power to weather this fascist storm, unfortunately most of us do not.
See, he didn't say it before but only says it now, because now it's PERSONAL. And did he really use the word "millionaires" instead of "billionaires?" If yes, he's a goddam coward, and I thank him for letting me know.
- And did he really use the word “millionaires” instead of “billionaires?”
  He was referring to a specific set of millionaires. The full quote is:
  Since Biden’s disastrous debate performance on June 27, various Democratic donors have been sounding the alarm on whether he can beat Trump in November.
  “I’m getting so frustrated by the elites in the party” calling for him to step down, the president fumed on MSNBC. “I don’t care what the millionaires think.”
- He cares what billionaires think.

Fuck you for trying to spin it that way, Biden.

I don’t want you as the candidate because the shit you’re saying indicates you straight up don’t understand the stakes. You said that you’d “feel fine, because you gave it your all”. Meanwhile, I’ll be out here dodging fucking 3%er and Proud Boy paramilitary squads that Trump will surely deputize with an “official act”, which will be very legal and very cool as per the Tribunal of Six’s recent decision.

Your head is not in the game. You are stuck not only in the sunk-cost fallacy, but also up your own ass. You are not trying hard enough. You are not using the right tactics. At this point I seriously doubt you even understand what the right tactics are.

We are trying to fight against fascism, and you’re going to fucking hand it to the fascists. Get out of our fucking way.

I've read a number of comments like yours and have always been curious about this sentiment.
I feel similarly iffy about the whole process. Despite that, I can't think of a viable alternative at this point in time that wouldn't lead to a disastrous result.
I genuinely want to know: if he does step down and give way to another candidate, who do you have in mind? Is it one person? Is it multiple? Or are we just hoping that if he steps down, a magical better candidate will show up?
- Harris, Newsom, and Whitmer would probably be my top 3 picks for viability. Of those three, I think Whitmer would be my favorite choice, but I think Newsom would be the most pragmatic choice (and to be clear, there is a LOT I don’t like about Newsom, despite the fact that I align with him on a decent number of issues) in the context of electability (white, male, a touch religious but not overly so, charismatic, great public speaker). I think Harris is uninspiring and the wrong choice for a TON of reasons, but the establishment will probably stick with her if they are somehow forced to not go with Biden simply because she’s currently VP.
  But, you know, that’s what primaries are supposed to be. We’re not really supposed to have the DNC essentially just playing kingmaker and doing cloak and dagger shit behind the scenes so their Chosen One ends up guaranteed to clinch the nomination. Unfortunately, the DNC is basically run by corporatist neoliberals at this point, so they aren’t interested in doing that… and they’re also unwilling to admit that such attitudes are precisely how we got here in the first fucking place.
  We got Trump because “it was her turn”. And I will NEVER fucking forgive Hillary for that. It’s abundantly clear that the “adults in the room” at the DNC have no fucking idea what they’re doing.
Liberals should be buying guns by the crate right now.

But did he slam them, too?

Yea I'm so elite. That's why I barely survive paycheck to paycheck, don't have healthcare, don't have much with regards to retirement funds, and have to ration my food. And I'm fucking 33.

Fuck you, you elitist old man. Democratic elite are showing their true colors, that they don't give a fuck about us. We are trying to tell him that he's going to lose to a fascist with his shitty debate performance, and he's pretending it didn't happen and trying to gaslight us. It's not that we want trump because we don't. But we are worried that his shit performance will depress the vote into not voting, which is a very real threat and will lead to fascism.

If we fall into fascism it won't be the voters fault, it'll be the fault of the elite ruling class. We didn't have to go in this direction, but we have been going here because Republicans keep going further authoritarian and the Democratic party barely tries to push back.

Whoaaaa....
Are you saying voters aren't going to respond well to Biden telling them their concerns aren't valid and no matter what he's not listen to them?!
- Ikr? Crazy concept
It's just such a tone deaf response. I sent an email to my senators and rep asking them to listen to their constituencies regarding their election fears. Not that I think it will do much. But God, waiting around for this old man to lose to Trump while feeling powerless (yes, I'll still vote) just sucks so much.

Funny how I’m suddenly one of the elites. I guess my opinion doesn’t reach him, so his definition probably stands.

Old Joe's got everybody mad at him. Elites. Big money donors. Etc. Everybody it seems bur Democratic voters. Polls are the same as before the debate.

Because those votes are mainly votes against Trump and even a trash can would probably pull in similar protest votes. All the more reason the idea of a better candidate that people are even slightly more enthusiastic over could push those numbers up
- Yep. I'm voting against Trump, not for Biden. Trump could run against a rock for all I care.
- Therein lies the rub. There aren't any democrats that poll better.
- You realize the Venn diagram of "Candidates the DNC financiers support" and "Candidates that would get more support than Joe Biden" doesn't actually overlap, right?
- Yeah.
  The vast majority willing to vote for Biden, would vote "blue no matter who".
  Which means logically, switching candidates is the smartest plan if all that matters is stopping trump.
  But a very small, very vocal group of Biden voters (and even Biden) seem to be lying about what's most important. I still can't believe Biden really said he wouldn't care if he lost.
  If they can't get Biden. A Republican is their second pick.
  They just won't admit it.
  But it's the only logical reason people would be insisting it has to be Biden. Just like Joe, they don't care if trump wins.
Polls were not good before the debate. Maybe it's too early to say what the effect will be but here's the second report I've seen saying it's getting worse.
Old Joe's got everybody mad at him. Elites. Big money donors. Etc.
To be fair, having those particular groups mad at you should be considered a good thing.
- But it's the opposite of what's happening...
  Can you name a single party leader or billionaire who has stopped supporting Biden this election?
  Like, I know some party members and some donors have...
  But no party leaders have said he needs to step down, and while some donors have, they're relatively tiny compared to the actual big money donors.
The polls are worse, by a lot. He is absolutely sinking and not coming back.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/03/us/politics/poll-debate-biden-trump.html
What are you talking about, before the debate he was even now he's down by 2 points and his approval rating is hitting new lows. For context he was up by 8 points this time last cycle to win a close election in November. Joe is falling behind and people don't like him, ignoring people's dislike for a candidate is how we lost 2016.

The problem is that plenty of non-elites also want him to exit the race; they just don't have the option of urging him to do it.

LOL, the term "elite/elitism" has lost all meaning.

Clearly he's got aides helping him do most stuff. That's not unheard of for any political official, but I imagine he's just going along with it like Reagan at the end of his term.

When he's by himself on a debate podium, you can see he's not doing great.

However, Trump is worse. They're two old men and you can see Biden is a calm older man slowly slipping. Trump is mad at everyone and everything, refuses help, and requires everyone to be a sycophant around him to placate his ego. The only way people get what they want out of him is to steer the bull in the direction of the China shop they want destroyed. He's an old man yelling at the TV, and we all have to hear him.

That said, one of them can, will, and has done more damage than the other. That's why I'd vote for Biden. The meme of "live Biden > dead Biden > dead Trump > live Trump" comes to mind.

meme of “live Biden > dead Biden > dead Trump > live Trump” comes to mind
Those aren't the only four options...
If the DNC Americaned up and booted Biden, they can nominate a live and competent person, who would easily win by simply not being trump AND not being Biden.
- Ok, who?
  They'd need name recognition, money, and influence to catch up. Who do you think would be a good pick that seems interested in the job?

Look at me, I'm an Elite! All this time I thought I was just some broke ass white boy.

I'm with Joe Fucking Biden

I'm with Hunter Biden. Dude straight up got a lap dance while smoking crack and listening to Fleet Foxes. We need to bring the radness back to the Whitehouse.
Well Joe's definitely ficking over biden

Ah, yes, the elites, like -checks notes- 75% of the country.

75% of the country
Or, 25% of voters who aren't stooges for a party that wants to buy yachts while the people starve.
- ...what?

I don't care if he's comatose and braindead by election day, I'm still voting for him if he's on the ballot.

Alright they have to stop using "Biden blasts" in article titles XD.

Blast me daddy 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

“I’m getting so frustrated by the elites in the party” calling on him to step down, the president fumed. “I don’t care what the millionaires think.”

Reminder the majority of party leaders and billionaire donors are the only ones still supporting him...

He's just bald face lying to voters. Or he's so far gone he really believes it

When the patient starts getting prefrontal cortex damage (including for normal age related issues) the patient often can't handle any criticism and responds to any criticism (no matter how valid) with belligerence.

It's the same if it's a TBI, alcohol/drugs, lead poisoning, literally any of the shit ton of things that effect the prefrontal cortex.

Biden is reacting to all of this in exactly the same way anyone else in his shoes would.

But that's a problem and even more reason to replace him

In the next four years he won't get better, he'll keep getting worse. And I think we can all agree there has already been a large change just since 2020.

Do you ever get sleep? You post anti biden shit nonstop.
- .
Biden is reacting to all of this in exactly the same way anyone else in his shoes would.
He's starting to react exactly the same way trump and many others on the right do, and is gaslighting his voters the same way, too (like by dismissing the perfectly valid concerns as "drama")..
That is to say it may very well be down to age, but it's also just the textbook behaviour of politicians who are there to serve themselves, the filthy rich establishment, and the status quo they all need to survive.
- The thing is, republicans have been conditioned to accept that since Nixon and Watergate.
  Dem voters aren't there yet. Hopefully we'll never get there, but right now this shit won't work on Dem voters.
This is way overdramatic for what Biden has actually said.
- overdramatic
  Wait...
  Are we at the "it's ok if trump wins" that Biden said in Fridays interview?
  Or are we back to reality where a second trump term is an existential threat to American democracy.
  Because if we're back in reality. I don't see how taking the threat of Biden losing seriously is "overdramatic". If anything, I'd say Biden is being "under dramatic".
  Do you overstand?