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President Joe Biden slammed his predecessor and former 2024 election opponent as an anti-democratic demagogue who has no respect for the norms and traditions of democracy during an appearance on the popular ABC News program The View on Wednesday.
Biden was asked by host Joy Behar about Donald Trump’s history of incendiary comments, including his suggestion that former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney face a military tribunal for having criticized him, and his recent suggestion that Democrats are responsible for inspiring the two recent assassination attempts against him.
Pressed for a response to the former president, Biden replied that Trump was “most unusual” before shifting gears and recalling how he’d wanted to run for president in 2020 to “restore the soul of the country,” to grow the American middle class and “bring the country back together.”
“Trump is — not a lot of social redeeming value there,” he said.
“He really does not believe in democracy and the guardrails that our system has set up for the abuse of power — and look at what he says and does,” he added.
Continuing, Biden said Trump is “probably terrifying” to other world leaders because he “fails to understand the value of partners, the value of alliances, the value of bringing the world together”. He added that Trump would probably bring an end to NATO if returned to the White House.
Asked if Trump is only running for another term to spare himself a prison term if he fails to regain the presidency, Biden replied: “I’m not sure he even understands what he’s doing.”
The president’s appearance on The View came just over 24 hours following his final speech before the United Nations General Assembly, during which he addressed his decision to stand down from seeking a second term.
In remarks that echoed the speech he gave following the announcement of his withdrawal as a candidate, Biden told world leaders that he’d “made the preservation of democracy” into a “central cause” of his time in office, and recounted how he’d wrestled with the decision over whether to remain in the race after his poor performance against his predecessor in their June 27 debate.
“As much as I love the job, I love my country more. I decided, after 50 years of public service, it’s time for a new generation of leadership to take my nation forward,” he said.
Asked if he regretted withdrawing from the race, Biden told the television hosts: “I am at peace with my decision.”
