Biden still believes he would beat Trump if he'd stayed in the race: report

At the time he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, President Biden believed he could beat former President Trump. Aides say he still believes he could win in a matchup.

Despite a weeks-long media barrage, Biden insisted he would stay in the race, claiming only the "Lord Almighty," could convince him to drop out. But, on the afternoon of July 21, the president announced his withdrawal from the race, although the prospect of defeat doesn't appear to be among his reasons for stepping aside, according to a New York Times report.

Polls, Democratic lawmakers, TV pundits, political commentators and Hollywood celebrities largely revoked their support for Biden following the disastrous June debate that put his age and mental acuity on display. As donors canceled fund-raisers, the money stopped coming in.

"Well, look," Mr. Biden told Robert Costa of CBS News in an interview on Sunday. "The polls we had showed that it was a neck-and-neck race, would have been down to the wire. But what happened was a number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in the races. And I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic."

PRESIDENT BIDEN ADMITS PRESSURE FROM DEMOCRATS CONTRIBUTED TO DECISION TO DROP OUT

Political isolation appeared to be what prompted the president to pull out of the race.

"What began to change the president’s mind, people familiar with his thinking say, was the realization that if he stayed in the race, he was in for a lonely battle that would rip apart the Democratic Party, the cause he had served nearly his entire life," the New York Times reported. "Would a man who views himself as the ultimate consensus builder in Washington want to wage an