NBC's "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd asked his panelists on Sunday if President Biden and former president Trump were in a "co-dependent" relationship and said the president "really needs" Trump to be the nominee.
"When we saw the announcement video from Joe Biden, it was not about what he did. It felt like it is about who he’s running against again," Todd said. "They even reference the first video. He really needs Donald Trump to be the nominee. And Donald Trump responded this Thursday by sort of focusing on him. Are they in a codependent relationship?"
NBC's Yamiche Alcindor responded that there were "definitely benefits" to having both Trump and Biden running against each other "in both of their minds."
"The first few minutes of that video were January 6, abortion, and then you got into book banning having talked to voters. Democrats are very worried about their own freedoms. And really want to wrestle that word back from Republicans," she said.
HUGE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS OPPOSE BIDEN RUNNING AGAIN, CITING ONE 'MAJOR' FACTOR: POLL
"So I think you see Joe Biden in that video making that case and making sure that people say, okay, you might have done something for the inflation or the bills, but your life is at stake. And I think there’s a little bit of a fear, frankly, that that’s being leaned into there, which we also saw on the Republican side," she continued.
Todd added that it was "fascinating" that both candidates believe the "other guy" keeps them in the race.
"The poll that we just conducted this week shows pretty clearly that most Americans do not want to see either of these two guys at the top of the ticket right now, but we’re in a situation where there aren’t clear alternatives and if you go back to having this conversation of if it’s not President Biden who is it? And the same thing with President Trump, his stranglehold on the Republican base which I see every single day particularly in the House of Representatives is so strong, the idea that there would be some sort of Republican alternative in a serious way right now just doesn’t appear to be that clear," NBC's Ryan Nobles said.
Todd asked former Democratic senator Claire McCaskill if there would be more "Democratic hammering" if Trump wasn't in the race.
"I don't think so. Would Joe Biden run no matter what? Yes he would," she said. "He has accomplishments, and I think he enjoys the job, and I think he would run no matter what. No question, but this is another thing, Chuck, that people forget. This is never a referendum. Presidential elections by the time they come around, well who do you like slightly better than the two you don’t like? It is a binary choice and even if its not Trump, extremism is on the ballot for the Republican Party this time whether they like it or not."
Biden and Vice President Harris announced their re-election campaign on Tuesday in a video posted to social media.
"Every generation of Americans has faced a moment when they’ve had to defend democracy, stand up for our personal freedoms, and stand up for our right to vote and our civil rights. This is ours. Let’s finish the job," Biden said in the video.
Trump criticized Biden's presidency shortly after his announcement and said he was "the most corrupt president in American history."
"You could take the five worst presidents in American history, and put them together, and they would not have done the damage Joe Biden has done to our Nation in just a few short years. Not even close," Trump said in a statement.
