CNN political commentator Ana Navarro said Monday that 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is giving her “Jeb Bush acid reflux,” suggesting his lack of energy on the campaign trail reminds her of the 2016 GOP candidate defeated by President Trump.
Navarro, a former Republican strategist who supported Bush in the 2016 GOP primary, shared her perspective on the former vice president on CNN’s “New Day.”
{mosads}“I say this as someone who really likes Joe Biden,” Navarro told anchors John Berman and Alisyn Camerota. “Right now, he’s giving me Jeb Bush acid reflux. I want to see him pull this together. He’s got time.”
Trump mocked Bush as “low energy Jeb” during the 2016 campaign. Bush, who was considered the party’s front-runner until Trump entered the race in June 2015, bowed out in February 2016 after performing poorly in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
“Biden can’t got out there on his cloud of Democratic love and string a harp,” Navarro continued. “He’s gotta go out there and prove that he can punch. People want to see electability and they want to be able to see: can he punch at Donald Trump.”
Biden was mocked by political observers over the the weekend, including by former Obama White House adviser David Axelrod, for sending out a tweet to the former president celebrating “Best Friends Day.”
“I’ll tell you what,” Navarro added. “Sending out a tweet with Obama’s my B.F.F. friendship bracelet is not the way to hold on.”
Biden, 76, is currently the front-runner among the 24 candidates seeking the Democratic nomination, but has seen his lead shrink recently.
A Saturday Des Moines Register–CNN poll of Iowa voters showed Biden at 24 percent support among Iowa voters, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at 16 percent, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) at 15 percent and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) at 14 percent.