President Biden said that conversations with other Democrats led to his decision to drop out of the presidential race.
In his first interview since the historic decision, Biden explained his rationale on “CBS Sunday Morning,” said he wanted to make sure Donald Trump lost the 2024 presidential election.
“A number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought I would hurt them in the races,” he said. “While it is a great honor to be president, I think I have an obligation to the country to do the most important thing and that is we must, we must, we must defeat Trump.”
Before he dropped out, Biden trailed Trump in national polls. Following his decision to leave, his presumed replacement as nominee, Kamala Harris, has gained ground in the same polls.
But for weeks, despite those numbers, Biden had insisted on staying in the race. At one point, he said he would only drop out about “The Lord Almighty” came down and told him to do it.
But in between disastrous debate on June 27 — which Biden says he was sick of — and his July 21 decision to drop out of the race, several Democrats joined the chorus calling for Biden to drop out.
“I was worried, if I stayed in the race, that would be the subject,” he said on Sunday. “I thought it would be a real distraction.”
Biden said he would join Harris and her choice for vice president, Minnesota Governor Tim Walzon the campaign trail. He called Walz “my nice guy.”
During the interview, Biden emphasized his belief that Trump is a danger to American democracy. He said he didn’t think there would be a peaceful transition of power if Trump lost the election, similar to that one fatal January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol after Biden defeated Trump in 2020.
“If Trump loses, I’m not sure at all. He means what he says; we don’t take him seriously. He means it,” the president said. “All the stuff about ‘If we lose, it’s going to be a bloodbath.’