Outgoing US President Joe Biden on Friday (January 10) said that he would have defeated Donald Trump in the general elections held in November, but he decided to withdraw from the race mid-way for the sake of the unity of the Democratic Party.
“Mr President, do you regret your decision to not run for re-election? Do you think that that made it easier for your predecessor to now become your successor?” Biden was asked during a news conference at the White House.?
Important to unify party: Biden
“I don’t think so. I think I would have beaten Trump, could have beaten Trump and I think that Kamala (Harris) could have beaten Trump, would have beaten Trump,” Biden said in response.
“It wasn’t about- I thought it was important to unify the party and when the party was worried about whether or not I was going to be able to move even though I thought I could win again, I thought it was better to unify the party,” he said.
“It was the greatest honour of my life to be president of the United States but I didn’t want to be the one who caused a party that wasn’t unified to lose an election. And that’s why I stepped aside. But I was confident she could win,” Biden said.
Following a lot of criticism from his own party leaders, Biden decided to withdraw from the race mid-way and endorsed his running mate Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate.
Kamala Harris lost election to Donald Trump
Harris lost the election to Trump. The general elections resulted in a clean sweep for the Republican Party, which not only recaptured the White House, maintained its majority in the House of Representatives but also got a majority in the Senate.
Biden to deliver prime-time farewell to nation on Jan?15?President Joe Biden will deliver a farewell address to the nation Wednesday from the Oval Office, five days before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in. The president's remarks at 8 pm Eastern are set to be his last significant opportunity to speak to Americans and the world before he leaves office at noon January 20. They will follow a speech Monday at the State Department, where he will deliver an address focused on his foreign policy legacy.
On Friday, speaking from the Roosevelt Room, Biden said he didn't think that dropping out of the presidential race over the summer helped deliver the election to Trump. Biden stepped aside amid enormous pressure from Democrats following a disastrous debate performance, and Kamala Harris ran in his place with just a few months to set up a campaign that normally is years in the making.
