Hillary Clinton said former President Joe Biden’s decision to seek reelection in 2024 was a “terrible mistake,” arguing that Democrats could have defeated President Donald Trump had he stepped aside earlier and opened the field to a competitive primary.
“He made a terrible mistake,” the former secretary of state said. “He made a terrible mistake for himself, his legacy, and for the country.”
Clinton made the remarks Monday during an interview with New Yorker editor David Remnick, arguing that Biden’s decision contradicted his earlier pledge to serve as a bridge to the next generation of Democratic leadership.
While acknowledging the benefit of hindsight, Clinton said Democrats would have been in a stronger position had Biden announced a year earlier that he would not seek another term.
“He said that he would not run again,” Clinton said. “I believe if he had kept to that plan and said in, say, the late summer of ’23 that he wasn’t going to run, that he was going to pass the torch to the next generation, we would have had a real contest.”
Biden defeated Trump in 2020 to become the 46th president. After initially seeking reelection for the 2024 contest, Biden withdrew from the race amid mounting concerns over his age and fitness for office, paving the way for former Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic nominee. Democrats, however, opted not to have an open primary after Biden dropped out.
Clinton argued that a competitive Democratic primary would have produced a nominee capable of defeating Trump in the 2024 election.
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“Very sadly, I believe whoever emerged from that contest, whether it was the vice president, or a governor, or a senator, or anybody else, would’ve beaten Donald Trump,” she said.
Clinton’s latest comments contrast with her earlier public support for Biden’s 2024 reelection bid, during which she emerged as a key surrogate for his campaign and defended his candidacy.
“Let’s go with the person most likely to win,” she said in 2022. “Joe Biden beat, in a huge landslide victory in the popular vote, Donald Trump. I think that says a lot.”
