The first presidential debate held late Thursday trimmed President Joe Biden‘s odds of returning to the White House for a second term. Giving his verdict on the debate, former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci said it may have cost the president the election.
Loss For Biden: “That was brutal. President Biden lost the debate,” said Scaramucci in a post on X, formerly Twitter. The Democratic camp may have “switch up their strategy immediately,” he added.
While speaking on the “Rest Is Politics US” podcast he co-hosts with British-Swiss journalist Katty Kay, Scaramucci said, “I’m a markets guy. Obviously, if I have got something wrong, I’m man enough to admit, I have got something wrong.”
The crypto bull and the founder of SkyBridge Capital has been throwing his weight behind Biden despite the latter’s anti-crypto stance.
Scaramucci noted that in the U.S. betting market, the odds of a Trump win have gone up to 67:33, suggesting the likelihood of him winning the Nov. 5 election has increased by five or six points.
The former White House communications director said that Trump would win if the election were held now and that Trump could go on to win on Nov. 5 unless something seismic happens to his health. Scaramucci said that, back in 2020, Biden was coherent, confident and sure of himself. On Thursday, however, the president fumbled with numbers early on and through the night, Scaramucci said.
“President Biden got pounded,” he said, referring to the president’s performance in the debate.
Alternative Candidates: Against this backdrop, Scaramucci said he doesn’t understand why the Democrats are stuck with Biden when they could have put up Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer or Pennsylvania Governor Joshua Shapiro.
“I could name five or six people that could get in here right now,” he said, while also adding U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo as a possible candidate.
“Any of those people are incredibly skilled politicians and they could school Donald Trump,” the financier said.
Trump’s Lies: Turning to the other side, Scaramucci said he wrote down all the lies the former president told and couldn’t keep count of them.
The former White House official agreed that Biden improved later on but said it may have been too little too late. During the debate, the public may have tuned out as they saw Biden getting overwhelmed.
Will Biden Drop Out? Scaramucci said super delegates could get Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris to drop out before the convention and announce alternative candidates.
“There’s only one person in America that could tell Kamala Harris to step out of that ticket. I believe that’s Barack Obama,” he said.
The vice president could be promised a Supreme Court appointment, which she turned down earlier, he added.
“I think at this point it would be good for the country for her to do and that they go with two younger people,” Scaramucci said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom would have wiped the floor with Trump in the debate, Scaramucci added.
In a separate interview with CNBC, Scaramucci said Aug. 7 will be a big day in the state of Ohio.
“They have to caucus and they have to nominate somebody by Aug. 7 to be on the ballot in Ohio,” he said, adding that he doesn’t see how Democrats can swap Biden with somebody else within the next 40 days. Biden has to be on the ballot in the state if he wants to win the presidency, the SkyBridge Capital founder noted.
Read Next: How To Invest In Startups
Photo: Shutterstock
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
