Joe Biden Breaks Silence, Claims Dropping Out Sooner ‘Wouldn’t Have Made a Difference’ [WATCH]

In his first broadcast interview since leaving office, former President Joe Biden defended his decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race just over three months before Election Day, telling the BBC he didn’t believe stepping down earlier would have changed the final result, as reported by The New York Post.

Biden, 82, ended his reelection bid on July 21, following widespread backlash from Democratic leaders and donors after his widely criticized performance during the June 27 debate against President Donald Trump.

His withdrawal left Vice President Kamala Harris with 106 days to run a national campaign, during which she ultimately lost both the Electoral College and the popular vote.

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“We left at a time when we had a good candidate,” Biden said in an interview aired Wednesday on BBC Radio 4’s Today. “She was fully funded, and what happened was, what we had set out to do, no one thought we could do.”

Biden maintained that he had always envisioned his presidency as transitional. “I meant what I said when I started, that I’m preparing to hand this to the next generation,” he added. “But things moved so quickly, and it made it difficult to walk away.”

In the final stretch of the campaign, Harris raised nearly $1 billion within six weeks of becoming the presumptive nominee. However, she became the first Democrat in two decades to lose both the Electoral College and the popular vote.

In a separate exit interview with USA Today, Biden said he believed he could have defeated Trump again but was unsure whether he could endure another four-year term. Public polling prior to his withdrawal consistently showed him trailing Trump.

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During the BBC interview, which was recorded in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden also criticized Trump’s handling of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Without naming Trump directly, Biden accused his successor of practicing “modern-day appeasement” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Listen to what Putin said… He believes it’s part of Mother Russia,” Biden said. “He can’t stand the fact that the Soviet Union has collapsed. And anybody that thinks he’s gonna stop is just foolish.”

Trump officials have suggested Ukraine may eventually need to accept the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea as a condition of peace—an idea rejected by Kyiv as unconstitutional.

“You’ve got a guy who wants to walk away from it all,” Biden said, warning that such a move could damage America’s credibility in Europe.

“I’m worried that Europe is going to lose confidence in the certainty of America and the leadership of America in the world.”

“Did you leave it too late? Should you have withdrawn earlier?”
@BBCNickRobinson asks President Biden who says his decision to drop out of the election was ‘difficult’ but quitting sooner would not have ‘made much difference’.
#R4Today

— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) May 7, 2025

Biden also denounced Trump’s reported comments about acquiring foreign territories, including Canada and Greenland.

“What the hell’s going on here? What president ever talks like that?” Biden said. “We’re about freedom, democracy, opportunity—not about confiscation.”

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