Former U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the Advocates, Counselors, and Representatives for the Disabled conference in Chicago, on April 15.Nam Y. Huh/The Canadian Press
Former President Joe Biden says he’s responsible for Donald Trump’s victory last fall, but he attributes Kamala Harris’ loss, at least in part, to sexism and racism.
Biden, who left office in January, addressed the Democrats’ disastrous 2024 election, concerns about his age and Trump’s divisive leadership during a Thursday interview on ABC’s “The View.” The 82-year-old Democrat said he has intentionally avoided speaking out publicly until this week to give the Republican president more than 100 days in office without his interference, as is typically the tradition following a change in the White House.
Asked about the last election, Biden said he was surprised by the role that gender and race played in the contest.
“They went the sexist route,” Biden said of criticism that “a woman couldn’t lead the country and a woman of mixed race.”
He added: “I was in charge, and he won, so I take responsibility.”
Biden has largely stepped away from national politics since leaving the White House. He’s not expected to play a central role in Democratic affairs as the party turns to a new generation of leadership, although he acknowledged on Thursday that he has maintained regular contact with Harris and has offered his guidance on her political future.
“She’s got a difficult decision to make about what she’s going to do. I hope she stays engaged,” Biden said, declining to share his specific advice.
Biden rejected concerns about his cognitive decline prompted by a disastrous debate performance last June. He also declined to criticize the Democratic leaders who privately pressed him to abandon his campaign.
“The only reason I got out of the race was because I didn’t want to have a divided Democratic Party,” he said, adding that the broader party didn’t buy into concerns about his age following the “terrible” debate performance “but the Democratic leadership and some of the very significant contributors did.”
Polling, however, suggests that the concerns among Democrats were widespread.
In January 2022, just a year into Biden’s first term, an AP-NORC poll found that only 48% of Democrats wanted him to seek re-election. That fell to 37% of Democrats in an AP-NORC poll conducted February 2023. And two after his debate flop, nearly two-thirds of Democrats said Biden should withdraw from the race.
Thursday’s appearance also marked Biden’s first joint interview with former first lady Jill Biden since leaving Washington. She rejected those who believe she created a protective cocoon around her husband while in office to protect him from scrutiny about his age.
“It was very hurtful especially from some of our so-called friends,” she said of the criticism.
“I was with Joe day and night … and I did not create a cocoon around him,” she continued. “You saw him in the Oval Office. You saw him making speeches. He wasn’t hiding somewhere.”
Meanwhile, the former president did not hold back when the conversation turned to Trump’s job performance.
“He’s had the worst 100 days any president has ever had,” Biden said.
White House communications director Steven Cheung fired back.
“Joe Biden is a complete disgrace to this country and the office he occupied,” Cheung said. “He has clearly lost all mental faculties and his handlers thought it’d be a good idea for him to do an interview and incoherently mumble his way through every answer. Sadly, this feels like abuse.”
