US President Joe Biden said he thinks he would defeat Donald Trump and win re-election in November.
In an interview with USA Today in exclusive interviewHowever, Biden added that he was not sure if he would have the stamina for another four-year term.
“So far so good,” said the 82-year-old. “But who knows what I’ll be when I’m 86?”
In a wide-ranging interview with Susan Page, Biden also said he was still considering preemptive pardons for Donald Trump’s enemies, including former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney and former top health official Dr. Anthony Fauci.
In an interview published Wednesday, Biden said he was “very direct with Trump” about possible pardons during their meeting in the Oval Office shortly after the November election.
“I tried to make it clear that there was no need and it was counterintuitive to his interest to come back and try to settle the score,” Biden said, adding that Trump did not retaliate but was “just listening.”
Biden said his final decision will depend on who Trump picks for his cabinet.
At that same meeting, Biden said Trump “praised” his economic performance.
“He [Trump] I thought I was leaving with a good record,” the Democrat said.
The interview with USA Today is the only exit interview Biden has given to a print outlet so far.
Media access to Biden has been tightly controlled by the White House — and the president has not held a press conference since dropping out of the race on July 21.
The outgoing president also defended himself in the conversation the full and unconditional pardon he issued to his son, Hunter Biden, who was facing punishment on two criminal charges – tax evasion and illegal gun purchase – despite repeatedly insisting he would not do it.
Biden, who first came to Capitol Hill in 1972 as a U.S. senator, has drawn criticism from within his own party for his apparent reluctance to drop out of the presidential race over concerns about his age and mental acuity.
Speaking to USA Today, Biden said he believed “based on the polls” he would have won, but acknowledged that his age may have affected him in office.
“When Trump ran for re-election, I really thought I had the best chance to beat him. But I also didn’t want to be president when I was 85, 86,” Biden said. “But I don’t know. Who the hell does?”
After Vice President Kamala Harris lost to Trump, senior members of the Democratic Party, such as former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, said Democrats he might have done better in the election if Biden had dropped out of the race earlier.
