Sources within the White House claim that President Joe Biden regrets withdrawing from this year’s presidential race and believes he could have defeated Donald Trump in last month’s election, despite unfavorable polling leading up to the decision.
Reportedly, Biden has also expressed dissatisfaction with his choice of Merrick Garland as attorney general. He is said to believe Garland, a former U.S. appeals court judge, was too slow in prosecuting Trump for his involvement in the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, while overseeing a Justice Department that aggressively pursued charges against Biden’s son, Hunter.
With just over three weeks left in his single-term presidency, Biden’s reflections were revealed in a Washington Post profile, which suggests he regrets withdrawing his candidacy in July after a poor debate performance against Trump the previous month. Biden’s decision to step aside led to Vice President Kamala Harris becoming the Democratic nominee.
Harris’s candidacy initially sparked a surge of enthusiasm and improved poll numbers for the Democratic ticket but ultimately ended in a decisive defeat in both the electoral college and the popular vote.
While Biden and his aides have refrained from publicly criticizing Harris, the Post reports that they privately believe Biden would have performed better in the election had he remained in the race. Harris supporters, however, argue that Biden’s delay in stepping aside left her with insufficient time to mount a strong campaign. They also point to his decision to seek a second term, which contradicted his 2020 campaign promise to serve as a “transitional” president who would pass the torch after one term.
“Biden ran on the promise of being a transitional president, a leader who would serve one term and enable a new generation to take over,” Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal told the Post. “Running again undermined that concept and the idea that he could end Trumpism and usher in a new era.”
Biden’s apparent frustration with Garland’s tenure as attorney general adds another layer to his reflective mood. Garland was nominated the day after the January 6 Capitol attack, a moment Biden described as critical to restoring the Justice Department’s “honor, integrity, and independence” after years of perceived politicization under Trump. At Garland’s announcement, Biden had emphasized the importance of loyalty to the law over any political agenda, saying, “Your loyalty is not to me. It’s to the law, to the constitution, to the people of this nation.”
