Former New York Gov. David Paterson said embattled President Biden is being propped up by his staff, and expressed alarm about the president’s mental fitness on a New York radio show.
Paterson, a former chairman of the state Democratic Party, raised his concern after hearing long pauses during the commander-in-chief’s speech at the NAACP Convention last week.
He also said it would be hard to pass over Vice President Kamala Harris to replace Biden at the top of the ticket, if the president steps aside and does not seek re-election.
He said Donald Trump is the “clear favorite” to win back the White House, given the turmoil within the Democratic Party over Biden’s fitness and unpopularity.
“Most Democrats like Joe Biden. They like the work he’s done over the years. He’s been conservative at times, like passing the 1994 crime bill.
“But there is a major change in his personality and his decorum since he was elected in 2020,” Paterson said Sunday on 770 WABC’s “The Cats Roundtable” radio program.
“People are not sure that he is really calling the shots and running the government. The belief is that the staff is propping him up,” Paterson said
The brain freeze that defined Biden’s disastrous debate performance, which saw him pause for around 10 seconds, is continue to flare up during stump speeches, Paterson said.
“Last Thursday he spoke at the NAACP in Las Vegas, and he stopped three times during the speech and didn’t say anything for like 10 to 15 seconds. It’s not the kind of look that the country wants in our president,” Paterson told host John Catsimatidis.
Top Democratic power-brokers — including former President Barack Obama, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are all said to be privately agitating for Biden to go.
More than 20 members of Congress have publicly called on Biden to pass the torch and not seek re-election, concerned the party will lose the House and Senate as well as the White House if the 81-year-old remains atop the ticket in November.
“I think it would be hard for the Party to go away from Kamala Harris, even though she’s had her dust-ups with a number of Democrats, and … [There’s] not a lot of time to wage that campaign,” said Paterson.
Still, he said there’s a strong bench of young Democratic governors who could step up — citing Kentucky’s Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro and Maryland’s Wes Moore as potential successors.
Paterson said Biden has shown he’s a proud, stubborn man and won’t go away quietly.
“There’s a lot more pressure being exerted [on Biden] than the public knows … At least three people have told me when he’s going to step down. All those dates have passed, and he hasn’t stepped down yet. So, the gossip gets in the way … In the end, I think [he’s not going away so fast],” he said.
Paterson insisted the turmoil within the Democratic Party is difficult but need not be a disaster. He cited his own experience, when the then-lieutenant governor took over in 2008 after Eliot Spitzer resigned as the result of a prostitute scandal.
“The times make the person more than the person makes the times. I went to work one morning and by 12:30 that afternoon, I realized I was going to be governor … The state didn’t fall into the ocean while I was serving,” he said.
“Fortunately, our government, and the way we make rules, and the way we follow them in our political parties shows us the way. This isn’t a terrible situation.
“But if you’re a Democrat, you really were hoping that Biden would be like he was in 2020 — and they would be able to beat former president Trump for a second time.”
Black leaders in the Democratic Party, such as Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, have been Biden’s strongest supporters and have resisted calls for him to step aside.
Paterson, New York’s first black governor, has stopped short of calling Biden to step aside but his withering criticism Sunday may be a signal the African-American establishment’s backing is starting to fade.
