James Carville has revealed the ‘colossal’ mistake Joe Biden made that will damn him in the history books.
The political guru claimed the former president’s decision to remain in the 2024 race until July was a historic blunder that will cast a shadow over his career.
He pointed out his obvious declining health and mental faculties should have been enough for him to realize he needed to stand down earlier.
But Carville did grace Biden with the title of ‘one of the most accomplished Americans since the end of World War II’.
The then-president repeatedly refused to make way for Kamala Harris to succeed him until July, by which point Trump had dominated the polling across America.
Harris took over from him on July 21 and saw a huge wave of support before it subsided and she was smashed by the Republican in the November election.
Carville told the Politics War Room podcast: ‘He made one colossal mistake – and the Democrats made a colossal mistake by going along with it.’
The Democrat strategist, who helped Bill Clinton into the White House in 1992, continued: ‘It’s pretty much the saddest f****** thing you could imagine.’
Podcast host Al Hunt said by the time he withdraw from the ticket the damage to his legacy and the Democratic Party had already been done.
Hunt said: ‘If he had gotten out in July of 2023, instead of being forced out a year later, just think… he would’ve been treated as a hero. His legacy would have been cherished.’
He argued the Democratic establishment enabled a delusion that Biden was the only person who could defeat Trump in the election.
Carville described him as ‘well-liked, admirable,’ a man who ‘exhibited strength through personal tragedy,’ but ultimately ‘should have been enjoying life’.
In the podcast Carville and Hunt do not give credence to any Republican conspiracy theories that suggest Biden’s health was covered up far in advance.
Last week, Biden was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones.
Hunt said: ‘There’s no evidence the cancer was known about a year before, as Trump and others have charged. He hadn’t even taken a PSA test since 2014.’
The pair also do not point to any single moment of cognitive decline that caused a policy crisis.
Hunt continued: ‘I didn’t find one instance in all the books where his slippage caused a real policy disaster.’
Carville added: ‘We pretty much know the parameters of what happened—but there’s plenty of specifics left.
‘And there are going to be so many books written on this s***. God knows what else we’ll find out.’
Veteran strategist James Carville steered Bill Clinton to the White House with a campaign best remembered for his pithy motto: ‘It’s the economy, stupid’
Carville and Hunt did not spare Biden’s Republican rivals either, unloading on what they called a ‘clown show’ of incompetence on Capitol Hill currently.
They seethed at Kristi Noem’s ignorance of basic constitutional principles, specifically her conflating habeas corpus with the authority to deport migrants.
Carville said: ‘Joe Biden may be old, but he knows what habeas corpus is. He could tell you right now. He was a really good president.
‘One of the better first-term presidents we’ve had. But that final decision… staying in the race too long… will damn him in the history books.’