Twice-failed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has seemingly turned on former President Joe Biden, calling his decision to seek reelection during the 2024 presidential cycle a “terrible mistake” that she says cost the Democratic Party the presidency and potentially marred his political legacy permanently.
The former secretary of state made the comments while speaking at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan on June 15, 2026. Clinton revealed that Biden had gone back on his previous commitment to step aside for the 2024 race and that going back on his promise ended up being catastrophic for Democrats. “He made a terrible mistake for himself, his legacy, and for the country,” she went on to say at the event.
Clinton then attempted to make the case that if Biden had announced in late summer 2023 that he would not be seeking reelection, an authentic Democratic primary could have been held and produced a better nominee to take on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. “I believe whoever emerged from that contest, whether it was the vice-president or a governor or a senator or anybody else, would have beaten Donald Trump,” she stated.
According to a report from The Guardian, Clinton called Biden’s decision to remain in the race a “terrible miscalculation.” Biden did eventually step down from being the party’s nominee, but only after a horrendous debate performance against Trump. It was so bad, in fact, that former first lady Jill Biden thought her husband was having a stroke on live television.
Biden ultimately handed over the nomination to his vice president, Kamala Harris, in August 2024, who then got trounced by President Trump a few months later during the general election. The Guardian goes on to note that Clinton’s thinking about a Democratic primary producing a winning candidate might be wrong, as Democrats failed to address several core issues important to American voters.
Those three issues included economic change, immigration, and Republicans having an advantage in the media. An internal review that examined the party’s loss to Trump and other Republicans in key races identified how out of touch the left was and still is with the majority of regular folk across the country, describing a party that has lost ground at every level of government for almost two decades.
Clinton also went on to explain that “once [Biden] didn’t move and did not, you know, admit that he had said he was going to step aside, and then decided not to, and held on for as long as he did, we were in a terrible dilemma.” On a viral clip of the former first lady’s remarks shared on Facebook, lots of folks agreed with the assessment that Biden running for reelection was a terrible idea.
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“Would of, could of, should of,” one individual said in a short and sweet reply. “She thought she was going to beat Donald Trump as well, so there’s that,” someone else wrote. One commenter, a Democrat, stated that Biden not only shouldn’t have sought reelection, but resigned from office halfway through his term. “She’s not wrong. He should have resigned just after the 2 year mark and handed it over to Harris,” he said.
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