US President Joe Biden, in his first TV interview since withdrawing from the election, has said he took the step because of pressure from fellow Democrats and his determination to defeat Donald Trump.
Elaborating on his shock resignation, Biden said party colleagues as he was running for re-election feared he was hurting their chances as his age and mental abilities were taking their toll on the campaign.
Biden, 81, has kept a low profile since the end of his second term on July 21, when his poor performance against Trump sparked a slow-burn Democrat revolt against him.
The president appeared frail but solid in a brief TV interview recorded at the White House last week and broadcast on Sunday. He once again acknowledged that he had failed the debate, but insisted that he had “no serious health problems.”
“Many of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate felt I would hurt them in the (election) race,” he said.
He added, “I was worried that if I stayed in the race you would interview me on this very topic.”
He made special mention of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a veteran party leader whose refusal to explicitly endorse his campaign was seen by many as pivotal.
“You might be asking me why Nancy Pelosi said that … I thought it would be a real distraction,” Biden said.
“For me, the most important issue still — no joke — is to maintain this democracy.
“My obligation to the country is that we do the most important thing we can do, and that is — we must defeat Trump.”
Helping Harris
Biden said he was proud of his record on jobs, investment and Covid recovery — and vowed to campaign hard for Vice President Kamala Harris, who has replaced him on the ballot.
He said, “I will do whatever Kamala feels I can to help her the most.”
Democrats’ hopes of victory have increased since Biden’s withdrawal, as Harris benefits from a surge in support that has left Trump and Republicans struggling.
The outgoing president said when he won in 2020, he had expected to serve only one term but was persuaded to seek a second term.
“I thought of myself as a transitional president — I can’t even tell you how old I am. It’s hard for me to get that out of my mouth — but things moved so quickly that it didn’t happen,” he told CBS’s Robert Costa.
As Harris holds big rallies in key states, Trump’s light schedule has also come under scrutiny, and it was his fellow candidate J.D. Vance who took the opportunity to burst onto the political talk shows on Sunday morning.
Appearing on CNN, ABC and CBS, Vance answered questions about child care, refugees and abortion.
In a fiery exchange with CBS’s Margaret Brennan, Vance complained that she had “asked six questions about abortion.”
“I’m still trying to get a clear answer,” Brennan responded.
He also claimed that Harris is the one who will “take over everything” in the Biden administration.
He told CNN’s Dana Bash, “If Dana’s not making the decisions, then who is?”
In his interview with CBS, Biden warned that Trump was a “real threat to American security.”
“Mark my words, if he wins … see what happens,” he said. “He is a real threat to American security.
“Look, we’re at a turning point in world history … and democracy is the key.”
He said he had “absolutely no confidence” in a peaceful transfer of power if Trump lost a second term.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
