On Friday, speaking from the Roosevelt Room, Biden said he didn't think that dropping out of the presidential race over the summer helped deliver the election to Trump. Biden stepped aside amid enormous pressure from Democrats following a disastrous debate performance, and Kamala Harris ran in his place with just a few months to set up a campaign that normally is years in the making.
"I think I would have beaten Trump, and I think that Kamala could have — would have beaten Trump," he said. "I thought it was important to unify the party. Even though I thought I could win again, I thought it was better to unify the party."
Biden said he didn't want to cause a divided party to lose an election, adding: “That's why I stepped aside. But I was confident she could win.”
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters earlier Friday that Biden would reflect on his “50-plus years as a public official" in his speech Monday.
“He has some thoughts on the future, not just of the country, but how this country moves forward as a leader, when you think about global events, important global issues, and certainly he will lay that out," she said.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP