President Biden acknowledged concerns about his age and discussed his legacy in an interview with USA Today in the Oval Office, still claiming he would have won another term had he run against Donald Trump, but admitting he wasn’t sure I don’t know if he could have lasted another four years.
“Do you think you would have had the strength to stay in office another four years?” asked USA Today’s Susan Page.
“Don’t know,” Biden said. “That’s why I thought when I first announced it, when I talked to Barack (Obama) about it, I said I thought I was the person. I wasn’t going to go after (my son) Beau’s death to run – really, no joke. And when Trump ran for re-election again, I really thought I had the best chance of beating him.”
“But I also didn’t plan on being president when I was 85 years old, 86 years old. And so I did talk about passing the baton,” Biden added, reflecting on concerns about his age, especially before he left government. presidential race.
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President Biden acknowledged concerns about his age and discussed his legacy in a new interview. (Getty Images)
Several media reportsThe Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, among others, have included interviews with current and former White House staffers who expressed serious doubts about the 82-year-old Biden’s staying power.
“But I don’t know,” the president continued. “Who knows? So far so good. But who knows what I’ll become when I’m 86 years old?”
The president’s words appeared to be a stark confession, even though he repeated them claims before dropping out that he was in top form, he realized his own limits as the oldest president in American history.
Biden again said he believed that could have defeated Trump in a rematch. The president announced he was leaving the race after his shaky debate against him in June, which exposed the cognitive problems that many of his supporters had denied or shielded from. He ultimately supported Vice President Kamala Harris, who subsequently lost the general election.
President Biden spoke to USA Today in a wide-ranging interview before his departure. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Biden’s comments came in the context of a discussion about his legacy as president.
“And so I hope history says that I came in and had a plan to fix the economy and restore American leadership in the world,” the president said. “That was my hope.”
Biden argued that an advantage of his age is his experience with world leaders and with historical changes in different parts of the world.
“And I think the one advantage of being an old man is that I’ve known every major world leader for a long time,” Biden said.
“And so I had a perspective on each of them and their interests,” he continued. “And so I think it’s helped me navigate some of the fundamental changes that are happening, whether it’s in Europe, in Latin America, in the Middle Eastin the Far East. And I hope that anyway, that I will be viewed in that context.”
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 24: U.S. President Joe Biden talks briefly to reporters as he leaves the White House on October 24, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Chip Somodevilla)
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