Former Obama adviser David Axelrod cautioned Democrats not to overly celebrate Vice President Kamala Harris’s newfound support, as he predicted the election is currently still former President Donald Trump’s to lose.
Harris has seen an uptick in support since becoming the presumptive presidential nominee for the Democratic Party, with recent polling data indicating she has a slight lead over Trump. However, Axelrod has contended that it is “still a really tight race” and that both sides will have to put up “a hard fight” to claim victory.
“It’s absolutely Trump’s race to lose right now,” Axelrod said on CNN Newsroom. “He is ahead. And he is ahead in most of the battleground states. They’re close; they can be won by either candidate.”
Axelrod argued that Harris’s spike in support stems from “irrational exuberance,” and he stated that the vice president has “a lot of momentum” since entering the 2024 race. He suggested that Democrats were initially feeling despair over the election with President Joe Biden as their nominee.
“Now people feel like there’s a chance,” Axelrod said.
The Democratic adviser’s caution that Trump could still emerge as the victor comes after some have suggested that Harris’s jump in support is merely a “honeymoon” period, which could wear off after a time. Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH), for example, predicted it will last about 30 days.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison announced Friday that Harris has received the delegates needed to become the new 2024 Democratic presidential nominee. She is expected to accept the nomination during the party’s convention in Chicago later this month.
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While Biden dropped out of the 2024 race after his first debate with Trump, the former president has questioned if he should debate Harris at all ahead of the election, as “everybody knows her, everybody knows me.” Despite this, he stated on Friday evening that he would meet Harris in Pennsylvania next month for a debate hosted by Fox News.
Harris has rejected the idea of debating Trump on Fox, and is instead sticking with a previous plan to have ABC News host the debate. Harris for President communications director Michael Tyler has contended that Trump “needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he already committed to on Sept 10.”