Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sharply criticized Joe Biden for seeking another term in 2024, saying it was a “terrible mistake” for him, his legacy, and the country. Speaking Monday at an event in Manhattan, she said the political damage came from his decision to stay in the race until after his poor first debate performance against Donald Trump.
Clinton argued that if Biden had stepped aside immediately after that debate, Democrats could have held a competitive primary and chosen a stronger nominee. In her view, “anyone” who emerged from a proper nominating process, whether a vice president, governor, senator, or another candidate, would have defeated Trump.
Her remarks came as Democrats continue reassessing why Kamala Harris lost the 2024 election to Trump. Last month, the Democratic National Committee published a postmortem that criticized the Biden White House team for how it prepared Harris after Biden’s late withdrawal, but it did not deeply examine Biden’s original decision to run again. Clinton said Democrats tried to push Biden out after the debate, but he was in “complete denial” and left only after polling made the case unavoidable.
Biden ended his campaign in late July 2024 and immediately endorsed Harris, giving her only about three months to build her own campaign. Clinton said Harris was hurt by the short timetable and by the difficulty of attacking Biden, who was unpopular at the time. She added that voters were not receptive to criticism of Biden from the person he had chosen as vice president. The comments also highlighted Clinton’s long and complicated relationship with Biden, which included serving together in Barack Obama’s administration and both considering 2016 presidential runs.
