Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville asserted Sunday that former President Joe Biden's decision to delay his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race inflicted lasting damage on the party and was the primary reason for its electoral struggles. Carville stated on his "Politics War Room" podcast that had Biden exited the race in October 2023, the party would have secured a Democratic president. "Had Joe Biden gotten out in October of 2023, we would have a Democratic president. Don’t kid yourself," Carville said. He further criticized those on the left who he claimed did not voice opposition to Biden's re-election bid, saying, "all the people on the left who say the Democrats don’t fight hard enough never said a word about Biden running for re-election. Not any of them. They all fell into line."
Carville, who has previously expressed concern about the Democratic Party's association with what he described as far-left identity politics, noted his difficulty in adjusting to the current political landscape. "I never thought I’d see this. I’m having a little bit trouble adjusting to it both politically and just personally," he remarked when discussing how the party should navigate the growing influence of democratic socialists.
Ron Brownstein, a senior analyst for CNN, suggested that the 2024 election offered a lesson for the center of the Democratic Party looking toward 2028. "If the center wants to win in ’28, they’re going to have to show two things: They’ve learned from the past, and they are committed to fighting the MAGA movement with greater energy," Brownstein said. He added, "I don’t think ’26 proves that the left is going to win in ’28, but it shows that the center is going to have to fight to maintain control of the party."
Despite his critiques of the left-leaning faction within the party, Carville maintained that a change was necessary. "We lost because people wanted a change election, and we didn’t give it to them," he stated. "And now they’re saying after we did that, ‘Fight, fight!’ Great, OK, wonderful. The flaw in the Democratic Party right now, the reason we have no power, is Biden got out of the race too late. And had there been any kind of choice, my personal view is we would have won the thing, and it wouldn’t have been close."
Brownstein responded to Carville's assessment, stating, "I’m not as certain that Democrats could have won even if he got out. But there’s no question that him staying in reduced their chances further." Fox News Digital reached out to Biden for comment but did not immediately receive a response.