President Joe Biden said on “The View” on Wednesday that he is “at peace” with his decision to not run for office again in 2024. He also said that he is still sure he would have beat Donald Trump in November.
Biden talked with the show’s five co-hosts for about 30 minutes. It was his first interview since the Democratic National Convention and the ABC News presidential debate on September 10 between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Democrats were getting more worried about the president’s age and ability to handle a tough campaign and possible second term, so he was first asked to think about stepping down and ending his run for reelection.
Biden said, “I am at peace with my choice.” “Look, when I ran for this last term, I said I wanted to be a transition president… But because we were so good at getting things done that other people thought we couldn’t, I ended up spending more time than usual passing the torch.
Biden then said nice things about Harris, calling her “tough” and “honorable.”
“And the thing I like about her, and one thing we share in common, is that we have an optimistic view of the future,” he added.
Still, Biden said he was sure he could have beat Trump if he had stayed in the race.
Biden said he “never fully believed” the claims that there was “overwhelming reluctance” to him continuing his campaign. This was despite the fact that 40 Democrats were publicly calling for him to drop out, and leaders like Sen.
Chuck Schumer and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi were putting pressure on him behind the scenes. He said that the things Democrats said weren’t the reason he quit.
“I was sure I could beat Trump. Biden told the hosts of “The View” that he was a loser.
Biden told Harris that the best way to win was to “be herself.” Then he quickly went over her work as a prosecutor, a U.S. senator, and in his government.
“As vice president, there wasn’t a single thing that I did that she couldn’t do,” he stated. “So, I was able to delegate her responsibility on everything from foreign policy to domestic policy.”
“I just think she is — she has the energy, she has the intelligence, she has the grit, she has the stamina, and she has the guts to do the right thing,” he told us.
Biden’s interview on “The View” was about his long career in politics. The hosts praised his work on the Violence Against Women Act, his administration’s diverse Cabinet, and his choice of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
But they also talked about controversial topics like Trump’s angry speech and the war between Israel and Gaza.
When asked about Trump’s claim that Biden and Democrats were to blame for the tense situation, Biden called Trump “the most unusual president” and said that he was motivated to run for president in 2020 to restore the “soul of the nation.”
“Trump is — there’s not a social redeeming value there,” he said. The president said that Trump “does not believe in democracy” and that Trump “failed to understand” how important it is for countries to work together.
When asked about Israel and Gaza, Biden said that he backed Israel but did not agree with Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel. He also said that there needs to be a cease-fire and a two-state solution.
Rising fighting between Israel and Lebanon is making things worse in the Middle East, and Biden said the area is at a turning point.
He said, “A war between all of us is possible.” “But I think there’s also the opportunity still in play to have a settlement that can fundamentally the change the whole region.”