He also announced he would take to the campaign trail to help Vice President Kamala Harris.
President Joe Biden called himself a “transition president” in his first interview after dropping out of the race, saying he exited because of fears within his party that he could cost Democrats seats in Congress.
In a pre-recorded interview that aired on “CBS Sunday Morning” with Robert Costa, Biden said he exited the race because he feared being a “distraction” for down-ballot candidates — and specifically name-dropped Nancy Pelosi.
“What happened was a number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was gonna hurt them in the races. And I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic,” Biden said, adding that he expected to face questions about Pelosi’s role. “I thought it’d be a real distraction.”
The president said it was this — combined with his belief that he was a “transition president” — that ultimately helped him make his decision to end his reelection bid. It came after a disastrous debate performance triggered dozens of Democrats to call on Biden to pass the torch, especially as he dipped in the polls against former President Donald Trump.
“When I ran the first time, I thought of myself as being a transition president. I can’t even say how old I am. It’s hard for me to get it outta my mouth,” Biden said. “But things got moving so quickly, it — didn’t happen.”
He also announced a campaign tour in Pennsylvania with Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was on Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate shortlist.
I’m okay with it. It’s really caught the Republicans and particularly Trump off-guard, especially since he locked in Vance in what turned out to be a too-early decision specifically because Biden waited until after the Republican convention to announce.
He’s a good man and he’s been such an incredibly effective President and politician. I think his main failing - and it’s very much part of the way that he actually gets things done - is that they have all these successes but they never trumpet them through the media. He’s gotten a lot done, but no one knows about it.
He’s a product of a biased system. He was elected to the Senate in '72, over 50 years ago, and spent 36 years there. That long, during that time in a highly business-heavy state, would probably have been untenable for anything left of liberal. I’m not optimistic that anyone trying to be an effective politician in those circumstances for so long could have been much more progressive.
Considering all that, he got a lot of good done. But like you say, it’s easy for the media to focus on the things that generate outrage. He wasn’t a saint by any measure, but he was a decent compromise at a time when the Democrats were scared of losing the moderate votes. Him being nominated for re-election is probably a product of the political inertia that sitting and eligible presidents are rarely swapped out instead of being put up for re-election (actually, is there any precedent at all?)
Walz, by contrast, was in the House for twelve years, then governor for another five. That’s a third of Biden’s time in Congress, and much later too. I think it’s much more realistic for someone in his position to be and stay progressive, and I hope he helps pull the Overton Window to the left. I hope this election shows that there is a platform for progress, that Biden was an emergency measure for damage control and that handing the baton over to Harris and Walz was a step in the right direction.
Of course, that hinges on Harris also driving a more progressive line than Biden did, instead of resigning to another term of mediocrity. She seems to signal as much, but whether that will be followed up with deeds remains to be seen.