The Democratic Party may have just survived a near-death experience in the midterms, holding control of the Senate and narrowly losing the House but it’s hardly smooth sailing all the way to the horizon according to realists like nationally syndicated talk radio host Charlamagne tha God.
Fox News Digital caught up with “The Breakfast Club” host who discussed the success of his radio program as well as picked his brain on the Democrats’ prospects in 2024, an election that could feature a rematch of former President Donald J. Trump against the deeply unpopular Joe Biden, and he wasn’t optimistic the results would be the same as in 2020.
In an exclusive interview with the conservative news outlet, Charlamagne – whose real name is Lenard McKelvey – suggested that Biden is the best hope that the party has when it comes to keeping control of the White House, primarily because there is really no other option for a party that lacks a deep bench and that two high profile options, Vice President Kamala Harris and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg are unelectable.
“I think it can go either way. Like, I don’t think it’s a sure thing, which is sad, right?… It’s sad that we’re saying it’s still a toss-up between [Trump] and President Biden,” he said after noting the ongoing investigations of the ex-POTUS. “I think that’s more indicative of what, you know, Democrats aren’t doing. And for me, I just don’t see the bench that the Democrats have. I personally don’t see the person that they could put up in 2024 that could really galvanize and energize people. I mean, the fact that Biden is still their safest bet- ugh. I think that’s sad too.”
(Video: Fox News)
“Maybe there’s somebody that we’re not even thinking of that is going to decide to throw their hat in the ring and, you know, energize the country the way, you know, President Obama did. You know, maybe it’s somebody that we’re not even really thinking about because they haven’t been in that long or, you know, but other than that, any of the players that we know, I don’t see it, man,” he later added.
He also said that there is no real argument against Biden running and that Democrats “don’t have a choice” if they want to hold onto the presidency, “Do you think there’s somebody out there that they can put up?”
During a recent episode of his show, “Hell Of a Week” on Comedy Central, Charlamagne said that the Democrats have “nobody” to run against either Trump or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a rising star in the Republican Party who many see as a legitimate challenger to the former president.
When asked about the chances of the vice president being a credible challenger to Trump or DeSantis, Charlamagne didn’t sugarcoat it.
“No, I don’t think the vice president stands a chance against Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis unless something magically changes over the next two years, and she pivots greatly, you know, but based on what we’ve seen so far, no,” he said.
He also expressed doubt that Buttigieg would be very popular outside of certain demographics favorable to Democrats and would likely be unable to appeal to the wide range of voters necessary to win on the national level.
“You know, he’s part of the LGBTQ community. So I think that gives him a lens of empathy that, you know, a lot of people may not have, so he’ll be able to see things from a lot of different people’s sides but, you know, I just don’t know if America will embrace him because of those same reasons,” he said of former Mayor Pete. “Like when President Obama, you know, became the first black president and everybody was like, ‘wow,’ that was a big thing because that’s just something you never thought you would see in America. Same thing when you see people like Hillary Clinton become the Democratic nominee. Like, that wasn’t too far-fetched to me, but I don’t know if I ever really thought this country was ready to embrace a woman president, especially right after a black president. So I’m not saying it couldn’t happen. I just don’t know if America is as progressive as we act. You know, I don’t know if they are ready to put a member of the LGBT community in that position. I really don’t.”
“I think people are sleeping on Ron DeSantis,” he said of the Sunshine State governor. “I can’t even believe the conversations I’m hearing with people saying ‘I don’t think he can win the national election.’ Why not? What will make them think that he can’t win a national election? Sorry to tell y’all, man. I’m from the south. I’m from South Carolina. More of the country is more like Florida than we may want to believe. The majority of America is more, you know, rural and, you know full of conservative values like in a place like Florida than there is, you know, other places. I think when you live in New York or California, you might be fooled to think that’s the world. That’s not the world. The world is more Southern and Midwest than anything.”
He added, “I think what gives DeSantis a good edge is that he seems more stable… We don’t want to go through that cycle of every day in the news, everybody’s talking about Trump. I mean, it just leads to too much divisiveness. You know, it leads to too much anxiety.”
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