President Joe Biden’s reelection chances may have taken another beating following the release of an audio recording the president would like to forget.
Politico on Tuesday obtained an audio recording of Biden’s former White House chief of staff, Ron Klain, tearing into the president over his dismal record and the soaring inflation. Klain, speaking at an event hosted by the publication Democracy: A Journal of Ideas, blasted Biden for not focusing on the rising cost of goods.
Just In: Biden’s former Chief of Staff Ron Klain was recorded at a private event absolutely trashing Joe Biden on the economy.
“ I think the president is out there too much talking about bridges. He does two or three events a week where he’s cutting a ribbon on a bridge. And… pic.twitter.com/20TsOpl0Vo
— 🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 (@Travis_in_Flint) April 10, 2024
“I think the president is out there too much talking about bridges,” Klain said in the audio. “He does two or three events a week where he’s cutting a ribbon on a bridge. And here’s a bridge. Like I tell you, if you go into the grocery store, you go to the grocery store and, you know, eggs and milk are expensive, the fact that there’s a (expletive) bridge is not [inaudible].”
🚨🚨Biden's former Chief of Staff Ron Klain: "Prices are still high, the price of gasoline is still high, other prices are still high, and people feel that pinch." pic.twitter.com/Ss110LPWfa
— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) April 4, 2024
Klain added that Joe Biden’s fixation on building long-term infrastructure is a “fool’s errand.”
“He’s not a congressman. He’s not running for Congress,” said Klain. “I think it’s kind of a fool’s errand. I think that [it] also doesn’t get covered that much because, look, it’s a (expletive) bridge. Like it’s a bridge, and how interesting is the bridge? It’s a little interesting but it’s not a lot interesting.”
Former Chief of Staff Ron Klain:
Biden is too focused on infrastructure while inflation continues to rise. Bad optics.
CNN guest agrees and says Klain is "kicking himself" for letting this audio get out
Democrats are petrified of the public hearing the truth. pic.twitter.com/ExHVxebe7S— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) April 10, 2024
In another interview, Klain maintained that Biden must turn his campaign messaging around. He urged Biden’s campaign to focus more on the future in their messaging instead of making the November election a referendum on the Biden administration’s achievement.
White House Deputy Press Secretary and Senior Communications Adviser Andrew Bates dismissed Klain’s comment in a statement that suggested Biden’s campaign was already doing everything the former staffer suggested.
“Like Ron says, President Biden is crisscrossing the country building on his State of the Union message, highlighting that he is fighting to grow the middle class and lower costs like prescription drugs while blocking the trickle-down agenda Republican officials have proposed on behalf of rich special interests, including Medicare cuts and tax giveaways to big corporations,” Bates said. “The President repeated that message in his Univision interview yesterday and will not let up.”