Will Hillary Clinton’s ‘get over yourself’ advise to upset voters backfire on Joe Biden?
Amid concerns over his age and mental fitness, US President Joe Biden received much-needed respite in his quest for a second term after No Labels declared that it would not be fielding a candidate in the 2024 presidential election.
However, it seems former US State Secretary Hillary Clinton may have caused some trouble to Biden after she advised disgruntled voters to “get over yourself”.
During her appearance on Monday’s “Tonight Show” on NBC, host Jimmy Fallon questioned Clinton about what she would advise voters who are “upset” about the Biden and Trump rematch.
“Get over yourself,” the former first lady said, adding that “Those are the two choices.”
Elaborating on her argument, she blasted Trump as an “old” man who has been charged with 91 felonies, but hailed 81-year-old Biden as an “effective and compassionate” man who “really cares about people.”
No Labels, which has earlier vowed to offer its ballot line to a candidate with a credible path to winning the White House,” said in a statement on Thursday that “no such candidates emerged”. “The responsible course of action is for us to stand down,” it added.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and former governors of Maryland and New Jersey, Chris Christie (R) and Larry Hogan (R), were among those who disqualified themselves from the presidential race.
Clinton gets blasted for ‘lecturing’ young voters
Responding to Clinton’s remarks, Democratic strategist Mark Longabaugh criticised the former senator, stressing that youngsters don’t want somebody to lecture them, The Hill reported.
He asserted that he isn’t sure if this is the most effective approach to win disaffected Democrats, younger voters, back to Joe Biden. “Young people want to be inspired, they don’t want to be lectured to,” he said.
Rather than wagging “your finger at them”, Longabaugh suggested the most suitable way to win them back is to talk about Biden’s great achievements on climate and women’s rights.
Echoing similar concerns, Grant Reeher, a political science professor at Syracuse University, highlighted the risks associated with Clinton’s remark amidst the public’s preexisting unfavorable opinion of establishment Democrats.
“The Democratic Party in general, and Hillary Clinton in particular, have a ‘street rep’ for preaching at, and lecturing, the voters. This doesn’t help that at all,” the professor said.
Reeher further appeared to take a dig at Clinton, stating that “it fits a reputation you have, which does not help you with voters.”
Trump leads over Biden in six of the seven battleground states that are predicted to decide the outcome of the 2024 elections, according to a new Wall Street Journal poll released earlier this week.
Clinton’s remarks come at a time when Biden is facing immense flak over his backing of Israel amid its attacks on Gaza. The war has killed nearly 33,000 Palestinians, according to the Gazan Health Ministry.