Former Barack Obama senior adviser David Axelrod has made a habit of sharply criticizing Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, often going after her silence or reticence to take on issues important to the Democratic Party.
Axelrod was instrumental in helping Obama defeat Clinton in a shocking political upset during the brutal 2008 Democratic primary, and he laid out what he saw as her weaknesses as a candidate in his memoir Believer. Now, as a political commentator, he's still going after her.
BuzzFeed reported last week that Axelrod said Clinton was "hurt" by her "sporadic" campaign events and appearances, and that once again inevitability was proving to be a "real burden."
He made a similar case on Morning Joe in December when he harkened back to the 2008 race, saying, "Hillary's candidacy got out in front of any rationale for it, and the danger is that that's happening again."
On at least two occasions, he quipped that the Ready for Hillary super PAC should be more like "Ready for What?" because of Clinton's low profile on important policies. In an interview with Yahoo's Katie Couric, Axelrod warned against Ready for Hillary creating a "dangerous ... cult of personality" while failing to articulate her vision for the country.
Axelrod was hardly the only liberal confused about Clinton's reason for running.
In February, Axelrod said Clinton would need a "very well-conceived message about where she wants to lead the country."
"If she doesn’t have that, then it does become a problem," he said. Last December, in an interview with MSNBC, Axelrod said Clinton had to demonstrate she was "running for a purpose and not just for a promotion."
"You have to stand for something, you have to fight for something, and people need to know what that is," he said.
He also previously said he would have advised against her giving paid speeches and doing the book tour for her poorly received memoir, Hard Choices.