CNN
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Former President Joe Biden blasted President Donald Trump’s first 100 days and defended his own performance as president during an appearance Thursday on ABC’s “The View,” his first live television interview since leaving the White House in January.
In the joint interview with his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, the former president discussed his ongoing rivalry with Trump and his continued relationship with former Vice President Kamala Harris, who he said still seeks his advice.
The Bidens had strong words for Democratic leaders, who they said bought into the idea he needed to drop out of the presidential race after his disastrous June presidential debate. They also dismissed reports and upcoming books that claim the former president experienced cognitive decline while in office.
The interview comes as the Bidens are reemerging into public life at a time when the Democratic Party is searching for new leaders and a cohesive strategy for taking on Trump. The former president did an interview with BBC News this week and the former first lady is now chairing a women’s health initiative for the Milken Institute.
“I’m trying to figure out what’s the most significant and consequential role I can play, consistent with what I’ve done in the past,” the former president said, adding that he’s writing another book.
The appearance also marks the pair’s efforts to defend the former president’s reputation from criticism that his decision to run for a second term – and remain in the race as long as he did – led to Harris’ defeat.
Here are three takeaways from the interview with the Bidens:
The Bidens pushed back on suggestions he experienced significant cognitive decline in his final year in office.
“They are wrong,” Biden said. “There is nothing to sustain that.”
“I said when I got out of the race, I was still going to be president. I think I did a pretty damn good job the last six months,” he said.
But it was his wife, Dr. Biden, who offered the more forceful defense of his time in office and disputed suggestions she had insulated her husband in his final years in office.
“The people who wrote those books were not in the White House with us, and they didn’t see how hard Joe worked every single day. I mean, he’d get up, he put in a full day, and then at night he would, I’d be in bed, you know, reading my book, and he was still on the phone, reading his briefings, working with staff. I mean, it was nonstop,” she said.
Biden admitted his performance at the CNN debate against Donald Trump last June amounted to a “terrible night,” but argued the suggestions he was unable to do the job of president did not reflect the broader sentiment of the Democratic Party.
“The Democratic Party at large didn’t buy into it,” Biden said, pointing to winning Democratic primaries in 2024 despite running largely uncontested in most of those contests. “But the Democratic leadership and some of the very significant contributors did.”
Asked if she was too close to the situation to accurately assess her husband’s ability to serve a second term, Dr. Biden said: “I did not create a cocoon around him.”
The former first lady also said hearing people describe her as Lady MacBeth was “very hurtful, especially from some of our so-called friends.”
Biden sidestepped a question about his current relationship with former President Barack Obama and instead attempted to provide more of an explanation for his decision to bow out of the race.
“The only reason I got out of the race was because I didn’t want to have a divided Democratic Party. It’s a simple proposition. And so that’s why I got out of the race,” he said. “I thought it was better to put the country ahead of my interest, my personal interest. I’m not being facetious. I’m being deadly earnest about that.”
One question facing the Democratic party is whether Harris will run again, either for governor of California next year or president in 2028.
Asked if Harris has told him what she plans to do next, President Biden said he speaks with Harris frequently – as recently as Wednesday – and that she does seek his opinion on topics.
“She’s got a difficult decision to make about what she’s going to do,” he said. “I hope she stays fully engaged. I think she’s first rate, but we have a lot of really good candidates as well.”
Looking back to the last election, the former president said he wasn’t surprised that Harris lost – not because she wasn’t qualified, but because the Trump campaign “went the sexist route” throughout the campaign.
“I’ve never seen quite a successful and consistent campaign undercutting the notion that a woman couldn’t lead the country, and a woman of mixed race,” the former president said.
At one point the panel brought up a past Harris appearance on “The View,” during which she said there wasn’t anything she could think of that she would have done differently than he did. The former president denied reports that he encouraged there to be no daylight between her campaign and his administration.
“I did not advise her to say that,” he said. “I think that was used in a way that is contrary to what she meant.”
Biden and Trump’s longstanding rivalry came up throughout the interview.
“He’s had the worst 100 days any president’s ever had,” the former president said. “And I would not say honesty has been a strong point.”
Asked why Trump continues to mention him, the former president said: “I beat him.” He repeated his assertion that he could have beat Trump if he’d stayed in the race
Throughout the conversation, Biden defended his record. At one point he was asked if he takes responsibility for Trump’s victory and for not pushing to pass border security legislation earlier in his presidency.
“Yes, I do, because look, I was in charge, and he won,” Biden said. He then criticized Trump for pushing Republicans to vote against bipartisan border legislation.
The panel also asked about Trump’s interest in the former president’s use of an autopen to sign pardons for his family, which Trump has said are “void” and “vacant.”
“Oh, he’s vacant,” the former president said.
