President Joe Biden gave a slightly different explanation for why he left the presidential race during an appearance on ABC’s The View, saying that “so much success” led to a delay in his plans.
“When I ran this last time, I said that I saw myself as a transition president, to a new generation of leadership,” Biden said. “What happened was, we were having so much success in getting things done that people thought we couldn’t get done, I found myself having to use more time than I would have ordinarily to pass that torch.”
The claim implies that Biden was always planning to step down but got bogged down in the work of the presidency, though he went through a primary process in which he received 14 million votes and debated former President Donald Trump before dropping out.
It also contradicts comments he made in a televised address the week after his exit, in which Biden said his record, leadership, and vision “merited a second term,” but that “nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy… so I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation.”
Biden received high praise from the show’s six hosts, though they also pressed him on the details, such as whether his hand was forced by people like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
“The relationship is fine,” he said, then fluttered his eyes, paused, and laughed. Biden asserted that his polling numbers were healthy enough to beat Trump, but he said age was a factor, joking that “it’s hard to even say how old I am.”
Even if Biden holds no hard feelings about his ouster, show host Whoppi Goldberg does.
“I didn’t like the way they did it. I’m going to just say it out loud, because nobody says it out loud. I didn’t like the way it was done publicly,” she said. “You were my ride or die. Wherever you were going, that’s where I was going.”
Goldberg compared the constant presence of Trump during the Biden presidency to an annoying bug, which Biden pretended to swat.
The president got a very warm response from both the hosts and the crowd, thought was caught on a hot mic downplaying it.
“It’s always better when you’re leaving,” he told Joy Behar as he sat down.
Trump remained a central part of the conversation even after Biden mimed swatting him. Wearing a lapel pin pairing American and Ukrainian flags, Biden twice claimed that Trump threatened the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
“NATO ends if he [wins],” Biden said. “He fails to understand the value of partners, the value of alliances, the value of bringing the world together.”
A few minutes later, Biden returned to the same theme, warning that “Trump says if he gets elected he wants to get the hell out of NATO.” The alliance has expanded with the additions of Finland and Sweden since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, and Biden considers the additions to be one of his biggest accomplishments in office.
Trump has tried to cajole European NATO members to spend more on defense, saying he’d encourage Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to members that don’t pay enough. He claims that Russia would never have invaded Ukraine under his watch.
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Biden closed the interview by promising that he won’t be going away fully, naming his think tanks at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Delaware as efforts he’ll continue to lead.
“I have to tell you our thanks to you for coming and sitting with us,” Goldberg said. “You have been extraordinary for the country, and we are so proud to have had you at this table.”