WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden, in a new interview days before he leaves office, cast doubt on his fitness to serve another four years even as he maintained that he could have won election to a second term.
The outgoing Democratic president also told USA Today in the interview published Wednesday that he tried during his Oval Office meeting with President-elect Donald Trump to discourage the Republican from going after his political opponents, as he has said he would. And Biden said he had not decided whether to issue sweeping pardons to preemptively protect those individuals from any possible retribution by Trump or the incoming administration.
“I don't know,” Biden responded when USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page asked if he would've had the vigor to serve another four years in office. Biden and Page sat down at the White House on Sunday for the president's rare interview with a print publication.
Biden, 82, talks about how he didn't intend to run for president in 2020, but says that when Trump sought reelection last year, “I really thought I had the best chance of beating him. But I also wasn’t looking to be president when I was 85 years old, 86 years old."
“But I don't know. Who the hell knows?" he added. “So far, so good. But who knows what I’m going to be when I’m 86 years old?”
Did he believe he could have been reelected? “It’s presumptuous to say that, but I think yes," Biden said. He said his assessment was “based on the polling” he reviewed, but he did not elaborate.
Concerns about Biden's age and fitness had followed him since he announced his bid for reelection, but he dropped out of the presidential race under pressure last July after faltering in a debate against Trump. He endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. She lost to the Republican.
In the interview, Biden said he was considering preemptive pardons but had not decided whether to issue any. When he and Trump met in the Oval Office after the election, Biden said, “I tried to make it clear that there was no need, and it was counterintuitive for his interest to go back and try to settle scores.”
Trump didn't answer one way or the other, Biden said, adding, “He just basically listened.”
Biden said his “greatest fear” is that Trump will eliminate parts of major climate legislation Biden signed in 2022. He also took Trump to task for implying that the driver of the deadly New Year's Day vehicle attack in New Orleans was an immigrant who had entered the U.S. from Mexico.
The FBI has identified the driver, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas and an Army veteran. Fourteen people were killed and nearly three dozen were injured in the attack. Jabbar was killed by police.
Biden said he bets many people read what Trump said about the attacker and believe it.
“How do you deal with that?” he said, referring to his successor as someone "not known for telling the truth.”
FILE - President Joe Biden pauses during a photo opportunity with Medal of Valor recipients in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Marie-Philip Poulin scored a spectacular “Superwoman” goal and added an empty-netter to help the Montreal Victoire beat the Toronto Sceptres 4-2 on Wednesday night in a PWHL Takeover Tour game in front of a capacity crowd of 19,038 at Rogers Arena.
Poulin gave Montreal a 3-0 lead at 7:48 of the second, controlling the puck while down on both knees, then snapping a shot past goalie Kristen Campbell into the top right corner. Poulin's follow through left her stretched out over the ice as the puck sailed in.
Mikyla Grant-Mentis scored on a breakaway and added an assist, Claire Dalton also scored and Ann-Renée Desbiens made 29 saves for the league-leading Victoire.
Jesse Compher and Daryl Watts scored for last-place Toronto. Campbell stopped 21 shots.
The game was the second of nine on the Takeover Tour.
The crowd of 19,038 eclipsed the Vancouver Canucks’ season high of 18,940.
The Sceptres are at New York on Sunday. The Victoire will play Minnesota in Denver on Sunday.
AP Women’s Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
Toronto Sceptres' Savannah Harmon (5) shoots the puck against the Montreal Victoire during the second period of PWHL hockey game in Vancouver, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)
Montreal Victoire goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens (35) stops Toronto Sceptres' Hannah Miller (34) during the second period of PWHL hockey game in Vancouver, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)
Montreal Victoire goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens (35) watches as Toronto Sceptres' Renata Fast (14) and Montreal's Dara Greig (17) vie for the puck during second period PWHL hockey action in Vancouver, on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Sceptres' Sarah Nurse (20) slides into Montreal Victoire goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens (35) during second period PWHL hockey action in Vancouver, on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)
Montreal Victoire's Claire Dalton (42) and Toronto Sceptres' Allie Munroe (12) vie for the puck during first period PWHL hockey action in Vancouver, on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)
Montreal Victoire's Mikyla Grant-Mentis (18), scores on Toronto Sceptres goaltender Kristen Campbell (50) as Rylind Mackinnon (55) watches during first period PWHL hockey action in Vancouver, on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)
Montreal Victoire's Mikyla Grant-Mentis (18) celebrates her goal against the Toronto Sceptres during first period PWHL hockey action in Vancouver, on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)
Montreal Victoire's Marie-Philip Poulin, left, celebrates her goal with teammates as the Toronto Sceptres skate back to the bench during second period PWHL hockey action in Vancouver, on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)
Montreal Victoire's Mikyla Grant-Mentis (18) celebrates her goal against the Toronto Sceptres with teammates during first period PWHL hockey action in Vancouver, on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)
