On Saturday, Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson offered an interesting theory about the Democratic Party’s presidential primaries. According to Carlson, former Vice President Joe Biden “will not be the Democratic nominee” — the party will replace him New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo .
Per The Hill , speaking for No BS News Hour podcast hosted by Charlie LeDuff, Carlson argued that Democratic Party insiders know Biden is “in decline” and believe he cannot beat President Donald Trump. Even though “the math doesn’t work,” Carlson said, party leaders will have no problem nominating Cuomo instead of Biden.
“He shouldn’t be working still,” the Fox News anchor said of Biden. “I’m not being mean. I know him. I’ve always liked him,” he continued.
“This is not the guy I’ve known, and you can ask anybody who knows him or has watched him.”
“He’s a completely different person, and he’s in decline, and I feel bad about it.” Carlson added, before speculating that the party might replace the former vice president with Cuomo. “If I had to bet, I would think Andrew Cuomo would be the most likely to replace Biden,” Carlson said.
As The Hill notes, Cuomo has been praised for the way he is handling the coronavirus pandemic in his state. The governor has been holding daily press briefings and appears to have stolen the spotlight from other, more prominent Democrats such as Biden.
Biden is all but certain to win the Democratic nomination, having racked up a formidable delegate lead over his only remaining competitor in the race, Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Biden underperformed in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, but revived his campaign with a blowout victory in South Carolina.
Biden is known to make what is being described as “gaffes,” oftentimes appearing confused and stumbling over his words. Some have argued that this is a sign that the former vice president is experiencing cognitive decline. For instance, comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan recently suggested on his show that Biden is in no shape to run against Trump.
The Trump campaign has been alluding to Biden’s mental fitness as well. Earlier this week, the campaign’s spokeswoman Abigail Marone suggested that Biden is “not playing with a full deck,” pointing to a recent false claim he made about being a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
According to The Boston Herald , the theory that Biden will be replaced by Cuomo is “not so far-fetched.” According to the publication, the fact that Biden is “looking presidential” might convince the party that replacing him with Cuomo — who is being praised for his leadership — would be a good idea.