In a recent appearance on The View, former President Joe Biden claimed he would have won the 2024 presidential election if he had not dropped out of the race in July. His comments came during a joint interview alongside former First Lady Jill Biden, in which the former president discussed his exit from the campaign and the performance of his successor, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden’s decision to withdraw followed a widely criticized debate performance against President Donald Trump in late June, which sparked concern within his party about his viability heading into the general election. Though Harris stepped in as the Democratic nominee, she was ultimately defeated in November.
And the hard hitting questions begin:
"How are you?" Whoopi.
They cast is excited that he's writing a book. pic.twitter.com/SySZyU3dBV— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) May 8, 2025
During the interview, cohost Sara Haines praised Biden’s decision to step aside as “selfless,” but expressed disappointment over Harris’s failure to secure a win, likening the outcome to Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016. She asked Biden what he believed had gone wrong.
“I wasn’t surprised — not because I didn’t think the vice president was the most qualified person to be president,” Biden said. “She’s qualified to be President of the United States of America. I was surprised — I was surprised because they went the route of — the sexist route, the whole route.”
Biden further claimed that Harris faced a “consistent campaign undercutting the notion that a woman couldn’t lead the country — and a woman of mixed race.” He provided no evidence to support this claim but framed the issue as a reflection of public bias rather than campaign strategy or policy disconnects.
Asked directly by cohost Alyssa Farah Griffin whether he believed he would have won had he stayed in the race, Biden responded confidently: “Yes.” He dismissed Trump’s victories in battleground states and his increased support across multiple demographics, suggesting the former president’s win was less impressive due to a smaller total vote count compared to Biden’s performance in 2020. “It wasn’t a slam dunk,” he said.
Biden also noted that he had spoken to Harris the day before but declined to disclose the content of their conversation. His remarks seemed to reinforce a belief within segments of the Democratic Party that electoral losses are more about public prejudice than party performance or leadership.
