Former President Donald Trump seems to think President Joe Biden's campaign is over, and he can barely contain his excitement.
"How did I do with the debate the other night? I kicked that old, broken-down pile of crap. He's quitting the race," Trump said of Biden's disastrous performance at last week's presidential debate.
The former president offered a withering assessment of his rival's electoral chances while he was out golfing, The Daily Beast reported on Wednesday, citing a leaked video it had obtained.
The video was later posted to Trump's Truth Social account on the same day. Business Insider couldn't independently verify when or where the video was taken.
"I got him out the race, and that means we have Kamala," Trump said in the video, referencing the possibility of Vice President Kamala Harris replacing Biden on the ballot this November.
"I think she's going to be better. She's so bad. She's so pathetic. She's just so fucking bad," he continued.
BREAKING: Leaked video shows Donald Trump saying he thinks Kamala Harris will be the Democrat nominee, says she is "so f**king bad."
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 4, 2024
"She's so bad. She's so pathetic. She's just so f**king bad."
"How did I do with the debate the other night? I kicked that old, broken down pile… pic.twitter.com/8OKxd1hHc6
When approached for comment, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign pointed BI to an earlier statement the campaign had issued.
"Make no mistake that Democrats, the mainstream media, and the swamp colluded to hide the truth from the American public," the Trump campaign advisors Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Every one of them has lied about Joe Biden's cognitive state and supported his disastrous policies over the past four years, especially Cackling Copilot Kamala Harris," the statement continued.
Talks of a potential Harris ticket have grown following Biden's lackluster showing when he debated Trump last week.
The former California senator is seen as Biden's best-positioned replacement, given that she'd enjoy continued access to Biden's $240 million campaign war chest even if he backed out.
Some Democrats, such as Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, have said they'd back Harris if she steps up.
"We should do everything we can to bolster her, whether it's in second place or the top of the ticket," Clyburn told MSNBC on Tuesday.
To be sure, both Biden and Harris have brushed aside calls for him to pull out from the race.
The pair told campaign and DNC staffers in a Zoom call that they'd be pressing on, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing people who attended the meeting.
"No one's pushing me out. I'm not leaving. I'm in this race to the end, and we're going to win," Biden told staffers.
"We will not back down. We will follow our president's lead. We will fight, and we will win," Harris said in the same call.
Representatives for Biden didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.
July 5, 5:00 a.m. — This story has been updated with a response from a Trump campaign spokesperson.
