‘Makes Me Sad’: Ex-Dem Strategist Says Biden Interview Was ‘Tough To Watch’

Former Democratic strategist Dan Turrentine said Wednesday that watching former President Joe Biden’s BBC interview was a rough experience for him.

Biden claimed in the interview, which was broadcast Wednesday, that it was difficult for him to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race because his single term in office was such a great success. After watching a clip of that portion on “The Morning Meeting,” Turrentine questioned why Biden would even conduct the interview, saying it was not beneficial to himself or his party.

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“Why is he doing this? Like, it’s not helping the party and it’s not helping him. I just think that he lacks complete self-awareness about the damage that he did with his presidency — I mean, just across the board,” Turrentine said. “And obviously the decision to run for re-election and what happened … I mean, whether it’s him or some of the aides at the Harvard Institute or others, they’re just — I imagine he just wants to be relevant. He misses the spotlight a little. If somebody calls, he’ll answer.”

“Like, ‘You want to come speak to Social Security for $100,000?’ ‘I’d love to.’ ‘You want to come talk to the BBC?’ ‘Yes.’ Because he was in it for 50 years … It just makes me sad to see him doing this,” he continued. “I wish he would be like the [former President Ronald] Reagans that went quietly — with dignity and grace — into the twilight, and managed those last few appearances very, very well. It’s tough to watch that.”

Biden also said “it was a hard decision” for him to step down from his 2024 campaign. He asserted that he does not believe “it would have mattered” if he had abandoned his reelection bid earlier.

The former president said that the Democrats had a “good candidate” in former Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced him on the Democratic ticket after he dropped out of the race in July following his disastrous presidential debate performance against President Donald Trump.

Trump decisively beat Harris in November, winning the popular vote and sweeping all seven swing states.

“She [Harris] was fully funded. Um, and what happened was, I had become what we set out to do, no one thought we could do and become so successful,” Biden told the outlet. “Our agenda was hard to say, now I’m going to stop now. I meant what I said when I started, that I think it’s, I’m prepared to hand this to the next generation, the transition government.”

Biden oversaw skyrocketing inflation during his term, which peaked at 9.1% in June 2022 and left Americans struggling with high prices. Energy prices surged as his administration prioritized reducing domestic oil and gas extraction while spearheading a significant push to subsidize an array of green energy projects.

The economy was perceived as one of the most important issues for voters leading up to the 2024 presidential election.