AP Photo/Evan Vucci
President Joe Biden insisted in a new interview that he would have beaten President-elect Donald Trump, but he also admitted he’s not sure he would have had the “vigor” to make it through another four years in the White House.
Speaking with Susan Page for USA Today in an interview published on Wednesday, Biden was asked if he could have won reelection and he said yes, arguing in favor of his own candidacy based on polling he reviewed.
“It’s presumptuous to say that, but I think yes based on the polling,” he said.
Page herself noted that “many analysts doubt” Biden could have won another term — and his short reelection bid before he dropped out and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris raised numerous questions about his “fitness” to even hold office. Biden is 82 years old.
It’s unclear what specific polling Biden was reviewing, but he was trailing Trump a New York Times/Siena College poll just days before he dropped out of the race.
“Who the hell knows?” Biden said about whether he’d have the “vigor” to serve another four years in office.
“When Trump was running again for reelection, I really thought I had the best chance of beating him,” the president said. “But I also wasn’t looking to be president when I was 85 years old, 86 years old. And so I did talk about passing the baton.”
Biden also claimed during the interview that Trump actually complimented him on his “good record” and the economy when they privately met, a stark contrast to how Trump describes the current administration publicly.
“He was very complimentary about some of the economic things I had done. And he talked about − he thought I was leaving with a good record,” Biden said.