Former President Joe Biden revealed Thursday in his first TV interview after leaving the White House that he “wasn’t surprised” President Trump trounced Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
“I wasn’t surprised, not because I didn’t think the vice president wasn’t the most qualified person to be president. She is,” Biden said during an appearance on ABC’s “The View.”
The ousted Democratic leader then asserted that had he not bowed out of the last presidential contest, he would have won — pointing to Trump getting “7 million fewer votes” than their 2020 matchup.
“A lot of people didn’t show up,” Biden said.
“I wasn’t surprised because they went the route of a, the sexist route, whole route, this is a woman, she’s this, she’s that,” he also said.
“I’ve never seen quite, uh, as successful and consistent campaign undercutting the notion that a woman couldn’t lead the country — and a woman of mixed race,” he added.
“They played that … fairly well,” Biden trailed off, before joking that one of the hosts had begged him not to talk at length as he’s been prone to do.
The 46th president also said that he was “very disappointed” by the Democrats’ staggering loss, claiming “liberal democracies all across America, all across the world lost last time.”
“I think we underestimate the phenomenal negative impact that COVID had and the pandemic had on people, on attitudes, on optimism, on a whole range of things,” he clarified.
The retired president also divulged that he “talks to” Harris “frequently” and had recently shared his “opinion” on an unidentified matter.
Asked directly whether rumors of Harris running for California governor were accurate, Biden said: “She’s got a difficult decision to make about what she’s going to do.”
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