Charlamagne grills Eric Swalwell on why Dems should be trusted after they 'lied to us so long' about Biden
Radio host Charlamagne tha God spoke to Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., on Tuesday, asking how Democrats can expect Americans to trust them again after covering for President Joe Biden's questionable health for so long.
Nearly a year after then-President Biden relinquished the Democratic Party's nomination, the cover-up of his purported decline continues to be a national controversy.
When Swalwell argued many figures in politics are acting as accomplices to President Donald Trump, Charlamagne replied he should take a look at his own party.
"But isn't that all of y'all, though?" the host asked.
"I don't think so, I hope not," Swalwell replied.
"I just finished reading the 'Original Sin,'" Charlamagne noted, referring to the new book by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson that outlines the president's alleged mental decline in office and cover-up. "So when I hear you talk, I'm like, well, what was the Democrats' excuse when they chose to be accomplices in the cover-up of Biden's physical and mental decline? It's the same thing. Y'all got on television and pretended to act like everything was fine, knowing behind the scenes he was not the one."
"I don't think many of us were behind the scenes, to be honest," Swalwell said. "I didn't spend much time with President Biden behind the scenes."
Charlamagne declared he spent zero time with Biden whatsoever, but nonetheless saw there were issues.
"You have your two eyes. I got it. I got it," Swalwell answered, going on to argue there is a fundamental difference between how Biden and Trump acted in office.
Later, Swalwell argued that the Democrats need to be the party of the future, "because the past was rejected last November."
Charlamagne offered a barbed response.
"Why should we ever trust the Democratic Party after they lied to us [for] so long about President Biden?" the host asked. "And I'm big on this, because I just read the 'Original Sin' and I'm just like… I think that Democrats have tried every strategy except for two things, honesty and courage."
"Yeah, well, there's a lot of people who are courageous right now in the Democratic Party. Our bread-and-butter issue, our 'dance with the one that brought ya' is healthcare," the congressman replied. "People have always trusted us on healthcare."
Later in the discussion, Charlamagne recalled a decisive moment in the 2024 election when then-Vice President Kamala Harris declined to differentiate herself from Biden during an appearance on "The View."
"Vice President Kamala Harris, the reason she did that on 'The View' is because nobody wanted to piss Biden off," Charlamagne said. "Biden wanted his legacy to be intact. You can read the 'Original Sin' and see that he cares more about his legacy and his ego and how the Biden name is perceived than anything."
The host continued, "He put himself over the party and the future of America, so she didn't want to break away from that. I bet you she had staunch marching orders: 'Do not break away from Biden, don't make his legacy look crazy.'"
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