‘Why Is It So Close?’: CNN Host Presses Biden Campaign Co-Chair On Race Being Tight Despite Trump’s Legal Issues

CNN’s Manu Raju questioned President Joe Biden campaign co-chair Mitch Landrieu on Thursday about why the presidential race is tight despite former President Donald Trump’s various legal struggles.

Trump is currently beating Biden by 0.5% nationally, according to the RealClearPolling average. Raju, on “Inside Politics,” asked Landrieu why the Biden campaign has not pulled further ahead of Trump given his legal issues, including a May felony conviction.

“Obviously this has been a neck-and-neck race. Polling shows that even though Donald Trump has been convicted on 34 felonies, been liable for sexual abuse and even after January 6, this race is still effectively tied. Some, many polls other than the Fox News one, had him ahead, former President Trump over Biden. So why is the Biden campaign unable to take advantage of any of this?” Raju asked.

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'Why Is It So Close?': CNN Host Presses Biden Campaign Co-Chair On Race Being Tight Despite Trump's Legal Issues pic.twitter.com/d8HN0toR9M

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Landrieu started off by disagreeing with the “premise” of Raju’s question.

“The people of America are going to very soon have a choice between Donald Trump, who wakes up every day thinking about himself, thinking about his billionaire friends, and then thinks about how he’s going to hurt people that he thinks have hurt him. Joe Biden wakes up fighting for the American people, making sure that we’re going to protect people’s freedoms, protect democracy and lower cost.”

The Biden campaign has attacked Trump as a threat to democracy, but 38% of undecided voters in six swing states trust the former president more on the issue compared to 29% who said the same for the current president, according to the Washington Post-Schar School poll featuring “decider” voters.

Raju interrupted the campaign co-chair, asking, “Why is the race so close? Why is it so close? Given all the things and advantages that you have, why is it so close?”

“The election is five months away,” Landrieu responded. Elections take a lot of time, they take a lot of effort and they take a lot of work and you have to build a team to actually make that happen. That case is being made as we speak. Polls come, polls go. The only one that matters is the one on Election Day. And I feel very confident that when people show up, they’re going to choose Joe Biden because he fights for them every day. In order to do that, you have to be on air. You gotta be on the ground. You have got to raise the money to do that, and that’s what the campaign is in the process of doing that as we speak.”

Pollster Frank Luntz on Wednesday marveled at Trump making it a tight race with Biden in Minnesota, which the former president lost in both the 2016 and 2020 elections. Biden is currently leading Trump by 1.7% in a two-way race in the state, according to the RealClearPolling average.

The pollster also highlighted the significance of Trump polling well against Biden despite his recent felony conviction.

“Yes, Trump dropped a few points after being found guilty on 34 felony counts. But remember this, that would have destroyed any candidate as recently as 10 years ago,” he said. “And the fact that Donald Trump is still even with, or in some cases leading, Joe Biden after being found guilty of 34 felonies, oh my God, that is so significant.”