Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sharply criticized former President Joe Biden for seeking reelection in 2024, saying he made a “terrible mistake” for himself, his legacy, and the country. Speaking Monday at an event in Manhattan, she argued that if Biden had stepped aside earlier, the Democratic Party could have held a competitive primary and produced a nominee who would have beaten Donald Trump.
Clinton said Biden’s decision to stay in the race until late, then withdraw in late July 2024, left Vice President Kamala Harris only about three months to mount her own campaign. She said Harris also struggled because she could not effectively attack Biden, who was then unpopular, and voters were unwilling to hear criticism of him from the person he had chosen as his running mate.
According to Clinton, Biden’s aides initially met efforts to convince him to leave the race after his poor first debate against Trump with “total denial.” She said polling data eventually forced him out. She added that any nominee chosen through an orderly process, whether a vice president, governor, senator, or another candidate, would have been able to defeat Trump.
The comments come as Democrats continue reassessing the reasons for Harris’s defeat in 2024. Last month, the Democratic National Committee released a post-election report criticizing how Biden’s White House team prepared Harris after Biden’s late withdrawal, but the report did not deeply examine Biden’s original choice to run again. Clinton and Biden, who served together in Barack Obama’s administration, have had a long relationship marked by cooperation and rivalry.
