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Biden dropped out because “the most important thing” is “we must defeat Trump”: CBS News

The president talked about his emotional decision to leave the race and his plans to campaign for the Harris-Walz ticket in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.

In his first sit-down interview since dropping his 2024 campaign, President Joe Biden told CBS News reporter Robert Costa that he bowed out because he feared being a distraction in the Democrats’ efforts to defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump. Their discussion, which aired on CBS Sunday Morning, touched on that infamous presidential debate, Biden’s plans for the rest of his campaign, and what another Trump presidency could look like.

“Although it’s a great honor being president, I think I have an obligation to the country,” Biden said. “The most important thing,” he continued, is “we must, we must, we must defeat Trump.”

pjwestin ,
@pjwestin@lemmy.world avatar

I’d be a little less skeptical of that claim if he hadn’t said that he’d be OK losing to Trump, “as long as I gave it my all.” I appreciate him stepping aside for the good of the country, but it took nearly a month of pressure from Democrats to get him to drop out, and I’m sure if the party leadership hadn’t turned in him, he’d be happy to take his chances against Trump.

kandoh ,

It’s still basically a 50/50 toss up. If Harris loses then we will all be wondering what may have happened if they stuck with Biden

pjwestin ,
@pjwestin@lemmy.world avatar

It’s a 50/50 toss up after only 2 weeks of campaigning. Unless she does something to kill her own momentum, she’s in very good shape. Also, it’s pretty clear what would have happened if they stuck with Biden; Maine and New York were becoming competitive, there’s just no universe where he would have won.

kandoh ,

Biden was at a 50/50 before he resigned. He was behind in the polls but they were all always within the margin of error.

pjwestin ,
@pjwestin@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, but he was on the downswing, while Harris is on the upswing. It just was not going to get better for him. Also, I can’t remember for sure, but I think he was significantly down on the most important swing states, and only polling about even nationally.

Beetschnapps ,

The bigger issue are voters clinging to the same shit as you.

His “giving his all” was too icky !

So apparently people couldn’t get past a great administration and hence we have a trump horse race.

pjwestin ,
@pjwestin@lemmy.world avatar

I mean, we have a Trump horse race now vs. a Trump blow out before. You may think his administration was great. Personally, I was surprised by how strong on labor he was, but disgusted by his handling of Gaza, and I think his blind institutionalism has made him too slow to react to an out of control Supreme Court. But those opinions don’t matter; he was not going to win after that debate. He came across as senile and confused, and he was not going to energize the base he needed to win. No matter what you think of his administration, he lost the election on June 27th, and we’re just lucky someone made him see that before it was too late.

teamevil ,

He did drop out at the perfect time though, that could have been strategic

pjwestin ,
@pjwestin@lemmy.world avatar

To he honest, I think that if he had dropped out earlier it would have been better. He created a lot of panic within the base that didn’t need to be there. I suppose it’s not impossible that it was some kind of strategy to make Harris’ ascension more welcome and inevitable, but I think that’s giving him way too much credit.

aleph ,
@aleph@lemm.ee avatar

Less then two weeks before he dropped out, he wrote an open letter to congressional democrats in which he wrote:

I want you to know that despite all the speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump.

I have heard the concerns that people have — their good faith fears and worries about what is at stake in this election. I am not blind to them.

I can respond to all this by saying clearly and unequivocally: I wouldn’t be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024.

The voters of the Democratic Party have voted. They have chosen me to be the nominee of the party. Do we now just say this process didn’t matter? That the voters don’t have a say?

I decline to do that… I have no doubt that I — and we — can and will beat Donald Trump.

Unless this was all part of an elaborate hoax, it’s clear he had no intention of dropping out at that time.

ngwoo ,

Nothing but respect for anyone that old who can change their mind when they’re wrong. It’s easy to fall into a rut of stubbornness.

teamevil ,

Possibly…God knows I felt the same dread you did

solsangraal ,

D vs R = setting aside your own personal ambition in order to benefit the common good, vs wiping your ass with the common good in order to benefit your own personal ambition

danc4498 ,

The biggest challenge Democrats have had is that they want their policies to be good for everybody, even the people that hate them. This means democrats aren’t as excited about the policies and Republicans just hate everything they do no matter what.

The ACA was the perfect example of this. Dems could have done whatever they wanted, but chose a very conservative healthcare model. Dems were indifferent and Republicans just latched onto this as a lightning rod for their hatred.

Republicans on the other hand will give their base 100% of what they want with no compromise. If you didn’t vote for republicans, they don’t care what you want or how you feel. This gives their base massive enthusiasm.

aleph , (edited )
@aleph@lemm.ee avatar

I wouldn’t go that far. Don’t forget that the main reason Biden had to be pressured to step down in the first place was that he had effectively been foisted on lukewarm voters and that his cognitive decline had been purposefully hidden for quite some time before the infamous debate.

Yes, it’s good that he finally agreed to bow out of the race, but he only did it after weeks of massive pressure from the media and from within his own party. Without that, he would most likely be the presumptive nominee today and the Democrats would still be getting creamed in the polls.

disguy_ovahea ,

Well, to benefit his own personal ambitions and to be able to pardon himself from all those pesky federal charges. Trump’s freedom may be on the line with this election, and he knows it.

krashmo ,

That’s what they said last time and look where he is now. Sure, he’s a convicted felon and that’s sort of fun to say but that’s more of a historical footnote than a meaningful development. There’s still been no serious consequences to his actions and if I were to place a bet on it I would put money on the chance that there never will be.

disguy_ovahea ,

There hasn’t been a Federal trial yet. It’s not that the charges “didn’t stick.” They haven’t been heard yet.

krashmo ,

Oh I’m fully aware of the situation but I don’t think that changes anything I said. Do you think he’ll do prison time or be forced to dissolve any of his businesses as restitution for any of his crimes? If not then all we’re really debating is the degree to which rich and powerful people are treated differently than the rest of us.

disguy_ovahea ,

I don’t know. Another one of his attorneys turned to testify against him in the election fraud case. The documents case could absolutely lead to jail time if Smith can push for another judge. Cannon can’t postpone indefinitely without repercussions.

As for payments, if he loses his appeal in NY, he’s on the hook for half a billion.

Viking_Hippie ,

Funny how he used to say that he decided to run again and then insist on not stepping aside for the exact reason he’s now giving for making the (correct and beneficial to the world) decision to bow to pressure from the rich donors and thus Nancy Pelosi to stand down.

It’s almost like he’s a notoriously dishonest and very vain old man trying to save face after having lost a power struggle…

PugJesus ,

A good choice by him. It can be hard to swallow one’s pride, but Biden’s first duty is to the USA, not to himself.

sinkingship ,

I’m not from the US. Is it really his choice? I thought it would be more democratic and the party members would vote for who they run, how they run, etc?

PugJesus ,

Well, effectively, what happened is that the Democratic Party had a primary election, where people voted on who they wanted the Democratic nominee to be. The thing is, conventional political wisdom is that the incumbent president has a large advantage simply from being the incumbent - people who are uncertain tend to stick to the status quo, and name recognition is as high as one could wish for. So, in the primary, no one serious ran against him because:

A. It would have been a waste of time and money

and

B. Doing so would’ve marked one out as very much ‘not a team player’, so to speak.

Thus, he won the primary election. However, after the primaries, he had a disastrous debate performance, and several highly influential members of the Democratic Party not only called for him to step down, but alleged mental decline (not necessarily dementia, but a serious decline in Biden’s sharpness and energy which raised questions about his ability to run the kind of vigorous campaign needed), even just since January of this year. Biden resisted calls to step down at first, and since he was the winner of the primaries, he was the only one who could realistically make the choice. He eventually bowed to public and private pressure and stepped down.

TransplantedSconie ,

Thanks for your service, Diamond Joe. You did the world a service in beating Trump in 2020. Harris/Walz will finish him off, and we can get back to righting the ship the Republicans keep drilling holes in.

TheDemonBuer ,
@TheDemonBuer@lemmy.world avatar

All politicians must learn this lesson. You are a public servant. It’s not about your ego or your legacy, it’s about what is best for the country and its people.

Voroxpete ,

Win or lose, Biden will have my respect for this. No matter where you live, it’s a rare thing to see a leader truly placing their nation’s good before their own pride. I hope others will learn by his example.

MediaBiasFactChecker Bot ,

CBS News - News Source Context (Click to view Full Report)Information for CBS News:
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