CNN anchor John King criticized 2020 presidential front-runner Joe Biden on his show Monday for his frequent mention of former President Barack Obama.
King’s comments come as Biden has been dinged in recent days for invoking Obama repeatedly during campaign events.
“I understand why he continues to really tie himself so closely to Obama,” Ayesha Rascoe, an NPR White House reporter, stated. “This has been helpful to him. I do wonder how far that will take him. He’s the front-runner right now, and it’s still very early, but is it going to be enough to say, ‘I was with Obama. Obama is my best friend, and so vote for me’? Will that be enough to carry him?”
King answered, “To that point, just to that point, look, he served as a loyal vice president for eight years to a Democratic president who is still very popular, especially popular among African American voters because he made history, of course. And so Joe Biden name-drops a lot.”
CNN then aired a montage of Biden mentioning Obama at multiple campaign events.
“They know he was Barack Obama’s vice president, right?” King said as he smirked. “Does he need to keep doing that? I guess is there a risk in overdoing it? Why do you need the cloak of Barack Obama? Why can’t you be your own man?”
Fellow presidential candidate Kamala Harris threw a thinly veiled criticism at Biden for the frequent Obama references over the weekend.
The California senator told reporters, “When it comes time to pull the lever and for people to actually vote in this presidential election, they’re going to make their decisions based not just on who we’re associated with.”
Biden was confronted with Harris’ remarks and said, “Let’s talk about the future instead of talking about the past. That’s what this is all about, it’s about the future. And I am ready to debate healthcare and Obamacare, whether that’s the way to go. … Education, climate change, that’s what I want to debate.”
