US President Joe Biden has said he thinks he would have defeated Donald Trump and won re-election in November.
Speaking to USA Today in an exclusive interviewBiden did however add that he was unsure if he would have had the stamina to carry out another four-year term.
“So far, so good,” the 82-year-old said. “But who knows what I’m going to be when I’m 86 years old?”
In the wide-ranging interview with Susan Page, Biden also said he was still considering pre-emptive pardons for foes of Donald Trump, including former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney and former senior health official Dr Anthony Fauci.
In the interview published Wednesday, Biden said he had been “very straightforward with Trump” about the potential pardons during their Oval Office meeting shortly after the November election.
“I tried to make it clear that there was no need, and it was counterintuitive for his interest to go back and try to settle scores,” Biden said, adding Trump did not push back, but “just basically listened”.
Biden said his ultimate decision will depend on who Trump selects for his cabinet.
At that same meeting, Biden said Trump was “complimentary” about his economic record.
“He [Trump] thought I was leaving with a good record,” the Democrat said.
The outgoing president also defended the full and unconditional pardon he issued to his son, Hunter Biden, who was facing sentencing for two criminal cases – tax evasion and for illegally buying a gun – despite repeatedly insisting he would not do so.
-“I meant what I said when I was asked whether I was going to pardon my son,” Biden said.
But the president said he became convinced he needed to grant one anyway because of two factors. One, that his son had “paid all his taxes” but paid them late, and that “no-one’s ever been tried” on the same gun charge, he said.
Hunter Biden had faced up to 25 years in prison for lying on a federal form about his drug addiction when he bought a handgun in 2018.
“But the point was, no-one’s ever been tried on that. Nobody,” Biden said.
Biden, a long-time politician who first came to Capitol Hill in 1972 as a US Senator, drew criticism from his own party over his apparent reluctance to drop out of the presidential race amid concerns over his age and mental acuity.
Speaking to USA Today, Biden said “based on polling” he believed he would have won, but conceded his age may have effected him in office.
“When Trump was running again for re-election, I really thought I had the best chance of beating him. But I also wasn’t looking to be president when I was 85 years old, 86 years old,” Biden said. “But I don’t know. Who the hell knows?”
Following Vice-President Kamala Harris’ loss to Trump, high-ranking members of the Democratic party, such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have said the Democrats might have fared better in the election had Biden exited the race sooner.
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