The President Joe Biden he believes he could have won the 2024 election if he had decided to stay in the race, he said USA Today in a broad conversation.
“It’s presumptuous to say that, but I think so,” he told the newspaper on Sunday in an almost hour-long interview. He said his view was based on polls he had seen.
The president’s comments come as he prepares to hand over the Oval Office to the president-elect Donald TrumpHe defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in November.
Biden, the oldest president at 82, he retired from the July race, after a disastrous CNN talk show in June raised questions about his age and fitness for office.
Biden also told USA Today on Sunday that he wasn’t sure if he would have the strength to serve another four years in office.
“I don’t know. Who the hell knows?” Biden said, though he added that when he first decided to run, “I didn’t even want to be president when I was 85, 86.”
US President Joe Biden speaks with Medal of Valor recipients in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, DC, January 3, 2025.
Chris Kleponis/AFP via Getty Images
Biden, who excuse me his son, Hunter, said in December that he had not decided whether to grant more pardons to potential Trump targets less than two weeks before he left office. When Biden and Trump met in the Oval Office after the election, Biden urged Trump not to follow through on threats directed at his opponents.
“I tried to make it clear that there was no need, and it was against his interest to go back and try to settle the scores,” Biden said, adding that Trump “listened” but did not say what he intended to do.
If there were to be preemptive pardons, Biden said the decision would be based “a little bit” on Trump’s pursuit of top administration roles.
Possible names being considered for pardons included current and former officials such as retired Gen. Mark Milley, former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, Sen. Adam Schiff and Dr. Anthony Fauci, ABC News reported. notify in advance.
Trump frequently attacks Biden’s handling of the economy, including on Tuesday when he was asked about food prices during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort. But privately, Biden said Trump agreed with his actions.
“He was very complimentary about some of the financial things I did,” Biden said. “And he talked — he thought I’d go with a good record.”
Biden also reflected on his relationship with former President Jimmy Carter and his visit to Georgia with Carter in 2021 as he prepares to deliver the eulogy at Carter’s state funeral on Thursday.
“We talked,” Biden said. “He wasn’t a big fan of my predecessor and successor. Well, there was never any malice. But it was very satisfying.”
Looking beyond his time in office, Biden said he doesn’t yet know where the presidential library will be, but ruled out his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania. He expressed hope that it will end up in Delaware, but he didn’t rule out the University of Pennsylvania either.
