CNN’s Van Jones said the differences between former President Trump and President Biden couldn’t be starker after Biden came down with COVID-19 Wednesday.
The political commentator took part in a panel covering the Republican National Convention as news broke about the president testing positive for COVID-19 and having to quarantine. This announcement came as more and more high-profile Democrats have reportedly called on Biden to leave the presidential race.
Biden's diagnosis showed a clear sign of weakness compared to the former president recently surviving an assassination attempt, according to the former Obama adviser.
"There are a lot of people who want Biden to stay in. A lot of those people pointing out that still grassroots love Joe Biden, but everybody doesn’t agree. But today is a terrible day. If you pull back and look at this thing: strength versus weakness. A bullet couldn‘t stop Trump. A virus just stopped Biden," Jones said.
He added, "You‘ve got the nominees of [the Republican] party getting their butts kissed. Biden‘s getting his butt kicked by his own party. The Democrats are coming apart. The Republicans are coming together. That‘s what‘s happening. And at some point, this [Democratic] party has to look at the reality of that and move."
NBC News' Chuck Todd had a similar reaction to Biden's COVID news.
"We're bordering on ‘Sixth Sense’ Bruce Willis territory where every Democrat kind of knows that this candidacy is over except the candidate," Todd said. "Is he aware that, basically, the entire party has given up on him?"
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Earlier that day, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., became the 20th congressional Democrat to call for Biden to leave the presidential race, as well as the highest profile Democrat to publicly do so.
The announcement also came after an AP-NORC survey found 65% of Democrats want Biden to withdraw from the presidential race with only 37% of Democrats satisfied with him as the nominee. About 70% of adults in general also said that Biden should leave the race.
The survey was conducted July 11-15 and mostly completed before the assassination attempt against Trump.
