A top Democrat strategist suffered a meltdown and threatened to leave an interview after being challenged on polling data showing President Joe Biden lagging in the presidential race.
During an interview with the left-wing New Yorker, Simon Rosenberg was questioned about the Democrats’ struggles to win over voters ahead of the upcoming elections.
Despite some sobering numbers, the White House is trying to project confidence about Biden’s re-election odds.
Rosenberg, founder of the New Democrat Network, insists that the current polling is “just wrong.”
“I’m ending the interview,” Rosenberg said during a contentious exchange with the interviewer.
“I’m ending the interview because what you’re doing is ridiculous.”
Rosenberg dismissed the polls as unreliable.
He pointed to Democrats’ track record since 2022 when a widely anticipated “red wave” fizzled months after the Supreme Court rolled back the federal right to an abortion.
“The fundamental dynamic of our politics, since the spring of 2022, has been consistent Democratic over-performance and consistent Republican underperformance,” Rosenberg said.
Rosenberg grew testy when interviewer Isaac Chotiner mentioned an article in FiveThirtyEight.
The article described polls in 2022 as accurate, despite Republicans’ apparent underperformance that year.
The mention of the report triggered a meltdown from Rosenberg.
“So if you want to keep coming back at this, do it!” Rosenberg raged at Chotiner.
“But this has become one of the most ridiculous interviews that I’ve ever done in my entire professional career!”
Recent polling has shown President Donald Trump gaining momentum, putting Democrats on the defensive.
Alongside promoting anti-Trump falsehoods, Biden has sought to keep abortion front and center on the campaign trail.
Meanwhile, voters are souring on Biden’s handling of the economy and the Southern Border.
On the other hand, Democrat Senate candidates are polling well.
This comes despite the Senate map being generally favorable to the GOP.
While Democrats place their faith in an abortion backlash, Trump has taken steps to neutralize the issue by rejecting calls for a federal ban.
Criminal prosecutions into Trump have also stalled, with the exception of a “hush money” trial that is seen as having an uncertain impact on the election.
Despite Rosenberg’s confident assertions, a New York Times/Siena College poll earlier this month showed Trump ahead of Biden in five out of six swing states.
The poll found disillusionment with Biden among traditionally Democrat black and Hispanic voters, whom Trump has aggressively courted, making a swing through the Bronx last week.
A national average of polls from FiveThirtyEight shows Trump more than one point ahead of Biden.
According to Axios, Biden is also skeptical of public opinion surveys that show him behind.
Some Democrats fear Biden is in denial, however.
