President Joe Biden said that if he had remained at the head of the Democratic ticket, it would have been “a distraction” for congressional Democrats running for office.
Biden, who announced last month he was bowing out of the presidential contest, made the remarks on CBS Sunday Morning when discussing his decision.
“Look, the polls we had showed that it was a neck and neck race; would have been down to the wire,” he said. “But 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. You’d be interviewing me about why did Nancy Pelosi say, why did so– and– and I thought it’d be a real distraction, No. 1,” Biden added.
President Biden sits down with CBS News chief election & campaign correspondent @costareports for his first interview since announcing his withdrawal from the presidential race. He talks about his decision and his family; his support of the Harris-Walz ticket; and what he sees as… pic.twitter.com/njNECYJVCV
— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) August 11, 2024
He also said that “maintaining this democracy” and defeating former President Donald Trump in November were other factors that led to the decision.
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Biden’s decision to bow out as the Democratic nominee came after weeks of pressure from Democrats following his June debate performance against Trump where he appeared halting and at times confused.
Shortly after dropping out, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the ticket. Since then, Democrats have rallied around Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.