President Joe Biden shared that he thinks he still could have won a second term had he stayed in the race and faced off against President-elect Donald Trump.
Biden shared his comments during an exclusive interview with USA Today, published on Wednesday morning.
“It’s presumptuous to say that, but I think yes,” Biden said when asked if he thought he would have won.
While he remained certain he would have won, he did admit he wasn’t certain he would have the vigor to complete another four years.
“So far, so good,” he said. “But who knows what I’m going to be when I’m 86 years old?”
Biden said his assumption he would have won came from polling he reviewed, though he did not elaborate on where the data came from.
National polls from late July, just before Biden dropped out, showed that he was behind Trump in battleground states, and shortly after Vice President Harris replaced him, the numbers improved.
Reports also showed after the election that before he had pulled out, Biden’s internal polling had Trump winning the election against him with as many as “400 electoral votes.”
During the interview, Biden also discussed his time as president, saying he never thought he would run in 2020 but did so once Trump announced his reelection bid because he felt he “had the best chance of beating him.”
“I also wasn’t looking to be president when I was 85 years old, 86 years old. And so I did talk about passing the baton,” Biden said of helping younger Democrats take over.
However, despite his promise to be a “bridge candidate,” Biden held onto the reins, staying in the race until the last moment, leaving Harris only 100 days to run her campaign against Trump.
Biden will leave the White House later this month, joining the exclusive list of single-term presidents.