Howard Dean: Biden ‘could beat the daylights’ out of Trump in pushup contest

Former Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean said in an interview that aired Tuesday that President Biden could “beat the daylights” out of former President Trump in a pushup contest.

In an interview on MSNBC’s “The Beat with Ari Melber,” Dean said Republican candidate Nikki Haley’s best hope at the GOP presidential nomination would be if Trump suffers a health problem and cannot continue in the race.

“Haley’s hope has to be that she can present herself well as an alternative to Trump so that the convention can accept her should either Trump have a health problem, which he’s certainly just as likely as Biden to have, if not more,” Dean said.

Trump, 77, and Biden, 81, have faced questions about their advanced ages and cognitive capabilities. But Dean said Biden’s physical fitness was the better of the two.

“I’ll bet you anything that Joe Biden could beat the daylights out of Trump in a pushup contest, for example. And Trump knows it, too. Although if it was a cheeseburger eating contest, it might turn out differently,” he said.

Dean said he cannot imagine a situation where Trump bows out of the race.

“But it’s a very different situation. You have here a guy who I think is unstable and requires attention. So, he can’t let go of this. There’s going to be no resignation, there’s going to be no ‘I will not seek, and I will not accept,’” he said, in a nod to former President Lyndon Johnson’s famous speech announcing he would not seek reelection in 1968 after Robert F. Kennedy’s entered the race as an anti-war candidate.

“He’s in it for the long run because he has to be for his psychological impairment,” Dean said.

The Hill has reached out to Trump’s campaign for a response.

Trump faces four criminal indictments, with jury duty set to begin in his New York hush money case on March 25.