Joe Biden has mostly been lying low since the end of his presidency, aside from occasional public appearances such as Pope Francis’s funeral. But this week, Biden sat for the first sit-down interview of his post-presidency with The BBC’s Nick Robinson.
In the interview, Biden criticized the man who succeeded him as president. He was especially upset about how Trump has treated the nation’s allies.
“I found it beneath America, the way that took place,” Biden said of Trump’s contentious Oval Office meeting with Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy. “And the way we talk about now that, ‘it’s the Gulf of America,’ ‘maybe we’re going to have to take back Panama,’ ‘maybe we need to acquire Greenland, ‘maybe Canada should be a [51st state].’ What the hell’s going on here?”
BREAKING: In his first interview since he left office, President Biden breaks his silence.
Reporter: Do you really believe that there’s a greater threat now to democracy than at any time since the Second World War?
Biden: Yes, I do. pic.twitter.com/pkUx53vPBY
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) May 7, 2025
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“What President ever talks like that? That’s not who we are. We’re about freedom, democracy, opportunity – not about confiscation.”
Biden also expressed concern over what might become of the Atlantic Alliance.
“I think it would change the modern history of the world if that occurs,” Biden said. “We’re the only nation in a position to have the capacity to bring people together, [to] lead the world. Otherwise, you’re going to have China and the former Soviet Union, Russia, stepping up.”
The interview also addressed Biden’s departure from the presidential race last summer and the question of whether he would have been cognitively prepared to serve a second term.
In BBC interview, Biden gives his most articulate explanation to date of the decision to seek reelection despite widespread concerns about his age: pic.twitter.com/lKhiYHEvBy
— Andrew Stiles (@AndrewStilesUSA) May 7, 2025
The BBC’s Robinson writes, “Biden is still warm and charismatic, with the folksy charm that made him an election winner, but he is a much slower, quieter, and more hesitant version of the leader he was once. Meeting with him in person, I found it hard to imagine he could have served for another four years in the White House, taking him closer to the age of 90.”
In the interview, Biden called it “the right decision” to exit the race.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
