At the time he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, President Biden believed he could beat former President Trump. Aides say he still believes he could win in a matchup.
Despite a weeks-long media barrage, Biden insisted he would stay in the race, claiming only the “Lord Almighty,” could convince him to drop out. But, on the afternoon of July 21, the president announced his withdrawal from the race, although the prospect of defeat doesn’t appear to be among his reasons for stepping aside, according to a New York Times report.
Polls, Democratic lawmakers, TV pundits, political commentators and Hollywood celebrities largely revoked their support for Biden following the disastrous June debate that put his age and mental acuity on display. As donors canceled fund-raisers, the money stopped coming in.
“Well, look,” Mr. Biden told Robert Costa of CBS News in an interview on Sunday. “The polls we had showed that it was a neck-and-neck race, would have been down to the wire. But what happened was a number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in the races. And I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic.”
PRESIDENT BIDEN ADMITS PRESSURE FROM DEMOCRATS CONTRIBUTED TO DECISION TO DROP OUT
Political isolation appeared to be what prompted the president to pull out of the race.
“What began to change the president’s mind, people familiar with his thinking say, was the realization that if he stayed in the race, he was in for a lonely battle that would rip apart the Democratic Party, the cause he had served nearly his entire life,” the New York Times reported. “Would a man who views himself as the ultimate consensus builder in Washington want to wage an intraparty war that would run counter to the fabric of who he is?”
Biden, according to the New York Times, reportedly asked two of his advisers when deciding if he should stay in the race: “If we were going to do it, what would we say?”
PELOSI DEMURS ON IF ‘EVERYTHING IS OK’ BETWEEN HER AND BIDEN: ‘YOU’D HAVE TO ASK HIM’
But, once he arrived at his decision to drop out, people close enough to Biden, who spoke with the New York Times on the condition of anonymity to discuss the president’s decision-making in the final hours, say he didn’t think he was destined to lose.
“You know, in recent weeks, it’s become clear to me that I needed to unite my party in this critical endeavor,” Biden said in his Oval Office remarks that he delivered a few days after he dropped out. “I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future all merited a second term, but nothing — nothing — can come in the way of saving our democracy.”
“That includes,” he added, “personal ambition.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
