Biden takes responsibility for Trump's win

Former President Biden said he takes “responsibility” for President Trump winning the White House again.

“Yes, I do,” Mr. Biden said Thursday on ABC’s “The View” when asked if he takes responsibility for Mr. Trump’s reelection. “I was in charge and he won, so I take responsibility.”

It was the former president’s first live television interview since leaving office in January.

He doubled down on a previous statement he made that he would’ve beaten Mr. Trump if he stayed in the election.

“Yeah, he still got 7 million fewer votes,” Mr. Biden said. “A lot of people didn’t show up.”

It’s not clear what Mr. Biden meant. The Democrat received 7 million more votes than Mr. Trump in 2020. But in 2024, Mr. Trump received 77 million votes — 3 million more than he got in 2020 — to defeat former Vice President Kamala Harris, who received 75 million votes. 

Mr. Biden said “the only reason I got out of the race is because I didn’t want to have a divided Democratic Party.”

He dropped out as the Democratic presidential candidate in late July, less than four months before the election. The country was questioning Mr. Biden’s mental fitness and whether he could serve another four years in office, especially after a disastrous presidential debate with Mr. Trump shook the country.

Mr. Biden said Thursday that reports of cognitive decline “are wrong.” 

“There’s nothing to sustain that,” he said.

His wife, former first lady Jill Biden, defended him, saying, “He’d put in a full day, and then at night … he was still on the phone, reading his briefings, working with staff.”

“It was non-stop. The White House, being president, is not like a job,” she said. “It’s a lifestyle… you live it 24 hours a day.”

Mr. Biden said he “wasn’t surprised” that former Ms. Harris, who stepped in as the Democratic presidential nominee after he dropped out, lost the election. He blamed her loss on “sexism.”

“I’ve never seen quite as successful and consistent campaign undercutting the notion that a woman could lead the country,” Mr. Biden said of the Trump campaign.

He also said he never told Ms. Harris to promote his priorities in her campaign. Critics say one of Ms. Harris’ downfalls was that she said she wouldn’t do anything differently than Mr. Biden.

“I did not advise her to say that,” he said.

The former president attacked Mr. Trump, saying he’s had “the worst 100 days any president’s ever had.”

He also said Mr. Trump refers to him a lot because “I beat him.”

“I’m used to dealing with bullies,” he said.