(The Center Square) – President Joe Biden explained to reporters Tuesday in more detail his rationale for suddenly ending his reelection bid earlier this year.
Biden told reporters that his race against former President Donald Trump would have been close and that he “could have won.” Biden said he wasn’t “that far behind” but that he was worried that he would hurt Senate and House Democrats running for their seats.
“What have happened though, if the discussion had been, was I going to cost seats for Democrats, that would have been the whole subject matter for the remainder of the campaign,” Biden told reporters at Chicago O’Hare International Airport before boarding Air Force One. “You’d have to cover it, that would be the issue, and it would give him an advantage.”
A reporter asked Biden if he was angry with Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who reportedly helped lead the pressure to push Biden out of the race. Several news outlets have reported that leading Democrats forced Biden out because of his poor polling.
“No, I haven’t spoken to Nancy at all,” Biden said. “I mean, look, I made — no — no one influenced my decision. No one knew it was coming. What I decided to do was — I didn’t want to — to the extent that the party thought they’d lose Senate seats or House seats, it — that would have been the topic you would have had to cover the entire remainder of the campaign, and it wasn’t worth it.”
Biden’s campaign implosion began after his disastrous performance at the presidential debate against Trump in June. Biden fumbled, faltered, trailed off and at times was incoherent at the debate, prompting Democrats in Congress, traditionally liberal media, and a range of political pundits to call for Biden to step aside.
Biden initially remained defiant but after a few weeks Biden announced on social media that he was stepping out of the race. He endorsed his Vice President Kamala Harris, who is expected to receive the nomination at the Democratic National Convention this week.
Biden spoke at that convention Monday night where he received a standing ovation, and Harris thanked him.
Biden’s comments Tuesday about his concern for losing House and Senate seats are a new, more revealing admission from the president. In a speech last month where Biden addressed the nation to explain his departure and endorse Harris again, he focused on touting his record in office and “passing the torch” to Harris to “save our Democracy.”
Biden’s remarks Tuesday show that the down-ballot fears played a much larger role. Polling before Biden’s withdrawal showed Trump leading Biden nationally by about 3 points but leading with much larger margins in several key swing states. In fact, Trump was dominating Biden in the swing states before Biden’s withdrawal.
Former President Donald Trump has publicly attacked Democrats for switching out Harris for Biden, who did win the delegates in primary states only to have those delegates endorse Harris.
“The Democrats staged the first ever ‘Coup’ in America,” Trump said in a statement Monday. “Crooked Joe Biden was told, ‘Sorry Joe, you’re losing to Trump, BIG, and you can’t beat him – You’re Fired.’ So now, for the first time in American history, I’ll have to beat TWO Candidates, the second being a Radical Left Marxist, Comrade Kamala Harris. It’s not fair, perhaps even another form of Election Interference, but the good news is that she should be easier than to beat than Crooked Joe in that the USA will never allow itself to become a Communist Country. THE DEMOCRATS ARE, ‘A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY?’”
When asked about those coup comments, Biden made a quip questioning Trump’s “stability” and later added that no one “took me out.”
