Former President Biden suggested in an interview that he does not regret withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race, claiming that an earlier decision would not have changed the outcome of the election.
Biden, who ended his campaign in July 2024, faced criticism that he should have stepped down sooner to give a replacement candidate more time to develop their own campaign.
“I do not think it would have mattered,” Biden told the BBC during a sit-down interview on Monday.
“We left at a time when we had a suitable candidate. “She was fully funded,” Biden said, referring to former Vice President Kamala Harris, who rose to the top of the ticket after Biden stepped down and inherited the massive Biden-Harris campaign fund.
Biden reflected on the difficult decision of running for a second term before deciding to step down.
“What happened was … what we had set out to do, no one thought we could do, and [we’d] become so successful in our agenda, it was hard to say, ‘Now, I am going to stop now,'” Biden told the press.
“I meant what I said when I started.” I am preparing to hand over this to the next generation, the transition government, but things moved so quickly that it was difficult to walk away,” Biden said. “And it was a hard decision.”
When asked if he has any regrets, Biden responded, “No, I believe it was the right decision. I believe that — well, it was simply a difficult decision.”
