Former President Joe Biden jumped back into the public spotlight, giving his first few interviews since his Vice President Kamala Harris lost the 2024 presidential election to President Donald Trump, and the response from Democrats has been unequivocal: they want him to go away.
Biden’s appearance on ABC’s “The View” on Thursday sparked a number of reactions, especially after he struggled so mightily with a question about his obvious cognitive decline that former First Lady Jill Biden felt compelled to intervene and answer the question on her husband’s behalf.
Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha told Politico that the main positive with regard to Biden’s appearance on “The View” was that the selection of the new Pope quickly took over the news cycle.
“It’s time for Joe Biden to go away with all due respect and let the next generation of Democrats take the mantle,” Rocha said. “Every time he appears on a show or says something, it’s just another week or a month that we have to defend him and remind everybody that we got beat by Donald Trump, again. … For those of us trying to rebuild the brand, it does no good when you’re constantly reminded about the old brand that won’t go away.”
Amanda Litman, co-founder of the progressive group Run for Something, agreed with Rocha: “Every interview that Biden does drags us backwards and reminds people of the older generation of Democrats that got us into this mess — when attention is our scarcest resource, we need to prioritize hearing from the next generation of leaders who could excite and rebuild the party.”
But even if Biden were to stop doing interviews entirely, Democrats will still have his legacy to contend with as more and more information comes out about his decline in books like the upcoming “Original Sin,” written by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson. Republicans also appear ready to move forward with the release of audio from Biden’s interviews with former Special Counsel Robert Hur.
