Joe Biden regrets having pulled out of this year’s presidential race and believes he would have defeated Donald Trump in last month’s election – despite negative poll indications, White House sources have said.

The US president has reportedly also said he made a mistake in choosing Merrick Garland as attorney general – reflecting that Garland, a former US appeals court judge, was slow to prosecute Donald Trump for his role in the 6 January 2021 insurrection while presiding over a justice department that aggressively prosecuted Biden’s son Hunter.

With just more than three weeks of his single-term presidency remaining, Biden’s reported rueful reflections are revealed in a Washington Post profile that contains the clearest signs yet that he thinks he erred in withdrawing his candidacy in July after a woeful debate performance against his rival for the White House, Trump, the previous month.

  • Erasmus@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Mr. I’m only gonna be a one term President seems to have a short memory, yet again.

    Him and his staff misled and dragged their feet about his intentions early in then he went full out with ‘no I’m gonna run fuck you all’ and it turned into a disaster.

    This is just one of the problems with the current Democratic Party. No one will work with and groom the upcoming young members to take control. The older party members literally do not have a clue what it means to step aside for the good of the party and the good of the country.

    • Xanthobilly@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      I wish this comment was higher. Biden betrayed the party and its chances of defeating Trump the moment he won the 2020 election and chose to not start preparing the nation on Jan 20th 2021 for a younger generation to lead. Merrick fucking Garland was the other, related, and just as large mistake. That one is totally on him.

      • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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        7 days ago

        And Kamala has just never been a great candidate, but he could have taken actions to try to boost her prominence. Instead he saddled her with no-win issues throughout and jealously guarded any successes for himself. And the one big bad issue I remember that he didn’t dump on her (the rail strike), he farmed out to Pete Buttigieg to be the face of the administration (even though it wasn’t a DOT issue). It was almost like the goal was to sabotage any potential locus of political power that wasn’t Biden and his inner circle.

        I don’t think a better grooming would have helped Harris when she wasn’t willing to be not-Biden in any way other than being coherent, but it certainly didn’t help and seems indicative of their lack of intention to ever transfer power.

        • Eugene V. Debs' Ghost@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          6 days ago

          A massive look back (Whenever we have the ability for free press again after Trump) on the consistent self sabotage of Clinton-Biden-Harris would become a new The Prince for future generations of leaders.

          “It’s better to be feared as a leader than to be loved as one.”

          “It’s better to not shoot yourself in the foot and then declare you’re good for a 10K, after saying the last 4K was your last.”

    • kandoh@reddthat.com
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      7 days ago

      I have a fun test for you, it will inform you if your information ecosystem is informing you or misinforming you

      Mr. I’m only gonna be a one term President seems to have a short memory, yet again.

      You clearly remember this as a big promise during Biden’s 2020 campaign - but can you actually find evidence of him saying this, ever?

      Can you find anything official - with a name attached to it - of the Biden campaign saying anything about only serving for one term?

      • SulaymanF@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        His campaign unofficially put that out in 2020, since he was near the bottom of the primary rankings. Campaigns that desperate start to float ideas as a trial balloon, to see if it would help or not. That’s how this works; a suggestion given by campaign staff that he can formally deny if it hurts his campaign or embrace if it’s helping. Once he started to gain ground in the primaries he backed off of the idea. He did many of these trial ideas.

      • Xanthobilly@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        Google gives a bunch of examples. Did he actually say it to the press? Perhaps not. Was it discussed and was his age recognized as a liability within his campaign in 2020? Absolutely yes.

        • kandoh@reddthat.com
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          7 days ago

          They all, all reference the exact same quote each article.

          “If Biden is elected,” a prominent adviser to the campaign said, “he’s going to be 82 years old in four years and he won’t be running for reelection.”

          The adviser argued that public acknowledgment of that reality could help Biden mollify younger voters, especially on the left, who are unexcited by his candidacy and fear that his nomination would serve as an eight-year roadblock to the next generation of Democrats.

          By signaling that he will serve just one term and choosing a running mate and Cabinet that is young and diverse, Biden could offer himself to the Democratic primary electorate as the candidate best suited to defeat Trump as well as the candidate who can usher into power the party’s fresh faces.

          None of that was official, it was all just the campaign’s attempt to shore up an issue they had without an actual commitment and you fell for it.

          • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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            7 days ago

            None of that was official, it was all just the campaign’s attempt to shore up an issue they had without an actual commitment and you fell for it.

            That’s not a failure of the media, that’s a deception by the campaign. Unless you think the media lied about a prominent advisor saying that, they did their job.

            If they were off the reservation, there should have been a firing, but just because they’re putting out statements through unofficial side channels doesn’t make it not a message from the campaign.

            • kreskin@lemmy.world
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              7 days ago

              off the reservation

              that phrase was used to describe native americans who ventured outside of the confines of the reservations they had been forced into. You can imagine what happened to them if caught. That phrase has a dark, dark, history.

          • grue@lemmy.world
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            7 days ago

            Well, then they should’ve repudiated it a lot sooner (i.e. during the 2020 campaign), because to allow the misconception to exist is tantamount to confirming it.

          • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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            None of that was official, it was all just the campaign’s attempt to shore up an issue they had without an actual commitment and you fell for it.

            Vote for us! We lied to you!

            Yeah, great look.

            • Eugene V. Debs' Ghost@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              6 days ago

              I am amazed of the mental gymnastics.

              “Can you find proof of this?”

              “Yes, dozens of reputable sources give proof.”

              “Well that’s not good enough, what I meant was you’re a moron for never thinking a 78 year old man with dementia would be great for 8 years as the hardest job in America.”