President Biden has revealed one reason for dropping out of the 2024 presidential race amid growing calls from Democratic lawmakers for him to step aside.
Biden’s comments on Tuesday, during an interview with Black Entertainment Television (BET), were part of a media offensive by the president, whose approval ratings have continued to slide since he was harshly criticized for his performance in a debate with former President Donald Trump in June.
“If I had some kind of health issue and the doctor came in and said you have this issue, that issue, and I made a significant mistake throughout the debate, when I first ran, as you may remember, I said I was going to be a transition candidate. I thought I could get out of this and hand it over to somebody else. But I didn’t anticipate things becoming so, so, so divisive,” Biden told BET’s Ed Gordon.
“Frankly, I think the only thing you get with age is a little bit of wisdom, and I think I’ve shown that I know how to get things done for our country, even though we’ve been told we can’t. But there’s still a lot of work to be done, and I’m not willing to abandon that work,” he added.
Biden aims to shore up support among Black voters as Trump makes gains
President Biden speaks at the 115th NAACP National Convention on July 16, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images)
Biden’s comments in the BET interview were provided in a preview clip that aired on the CBS Evening News on Tuesday night. The full interview, recorded in Las Vegas, Nevada, is scheduled to air on BET at 10 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
In a preview of the interview, Biden was also asked why he was “confident” he could reinstate Roe v. Wade, the ruling that was overturned by the Supreme Court in the summer of 2022.
“The Supreme Court did that. Trump appointed to the Supreme Court with the express purpose of doing that,” he said. “The Supreme Court will probably get two more appointments. Two will probably step down. I mean retire. Imagine what that would mean forever if the Supreme Court got two more appointments.”
BET Media Group said the interview, titled “Black America’s Vote: The Biden Interview,” will give the president an opportunity to “speak directly to Black Americans” and “highlight the important issues that affect our community and discuss why they should continue to support his candidacy amid growing public concern and calls for him to withdraw.”
The interview will be Biden’s third scheduled sit-down with a television network since his disastrous June 27 debate defeat to Trump, which led several Democrats to call on Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race.
The interview comes as Biden seeks to maintain support from black voters as his once-solid Democratic base begins to waver.
In addition to his interview with BET, Biden also spoke at the 115th NAACP National Convention in Las Vegas on Tuesday. He’s also scheduled to meet with Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Steven Horsford for an economic summit, where he’ll address black voters and meet with black lawmakers to discuss his vision for a second term.
Half of Black Voters Say They’ll Vote for Trump, Focus Group Moderator Shocked: ‘I Didn’t Expect That’
Despite the Biden-Harris campaign winning an overwhelming majority of black voters, its support in key battleground states has declined significantly since 2020. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
A major tour focused on the black community Former President Trump They are trying to win over areas of the country that are strongly Democratic and exploit Biden’s weaknesses.
Trump’s decision to target minority voters in places like New York, where Republicans haven’t won the state in decades, reflects his campaign’s belief that Biden is showing weakness among key Democratic voters.
Despite Biden winning majorities of black voters, he has seen a marked decline in enthusiasm in key battleground states since 2020.
“Our campaign believes Black voters deserve to hear from the Biden-Harris campaign and that their vote deserves to be earned, not taken for granted,” the Biden campaign previously said about engaging Black voters. “Through historic investments in Black media and outreach, creative engagement efforts, culturally appropriate content and innovative organizing efforts, that’s exactly what we’re doing. No other campaign is more focused on Black voters than we are, and we’re investing more money, earlier than ever, to speak to Black voters.”
a USA TodayA Suffolk University poll released last month found that support for Biden among black voters in both Michigan and Pennsylvania has fallen by about 20 percentage points since the last election.
Trump’s decision to target minority voters in places like New York, where Republicans haven’t won the state in decades, reflects his campaign’s belief that Biden is showing weakness among key Democratic voters. (Getty Images)
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In Michigan, polls have Trump winning 15% of black voters, while Biden has the support of 54% of black voters. Trump won just 9% of the black vote in Michigan in the 2020 election.
Many pollsters expect Trump to experience an upswing in his approval ratings among all age groups after the election. Assassination attempt Last weekend, an incident nearly took his life.
Get the latest 2024 campaign updates, exclusive interviews and more on Fox News Digital’s Election Hub.
Fox News’ Timothy H.J. Nerozzi, Hannah Panrec and Caroline McKee contributed to this report.
