Biden says he could've beaten Trump in November
President Biden said early Wednesday that he thinks he would have beaten President-elect Trump if he stuck with his reelection bid in an interview with USA Today.
“It’s presumptuous to say that, but I think yes,” the president said when reporter Susan Page asked if he could have won.
Biden added that he based that view on polling he reviewed but didn’t elaborate on where the data came from. When the president dropped out of the 2024 race in late July, he was behind Trump in national and battleground polls and Vice President Harris was able to perform better against the president-elect just after taking over the ticket.
Biden withdrew his reelection bid amid pressure from Democrats to do so, following a dismal debate performance against Trump that raised questions over his age and fitness.
The president said in the interview that he wasn’t sure he would have the stamina to serve for another four years, telling Page, “I don’t know,” when she asked about if he had the vigor.
“So far, so good… but who knows what I'm going to be when I'm 86 years old?” Biden said in the interview.
When he stepped aside, he endorsed Harris, who then lost decisively to Trump in November.
Biden recalled in the interview that he didn’t intend to run for president in 2020 but when Trump was running for reelection at the time, he thought he “had the best chance of beating him.”
“I also wasn't looking to be president when I was 85 years old, 86 years old," he said. "And so I did talk about passing the baton” to the next generation of Democratic leaders.
While Biden said he would have been a “bridge candidate” when running in 2020, the president then announced his reelection bid in April 2023 that did not fulfill that promise.
He is set to leave office later this month, when Trump is sworn in, and his legacy will include that he abandoned that vow. The move led to Harris launching a just over 100-day campaign and ultimately losing to Trump.
Meanwhile, the Democratic party is working to rebuild after Republicans swept in November.