Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) blasted former President Joe Biden for pursuing reelection in 2024, claiming that younger generations will have to “pay the price” for his decision.
In an interview on “Pod Save America” released on Thursday, O’Rourke said Biden let the country down by paving the way for Donald Trump’s return to power. (Watch the clip in the video above.)
“Just to be clear, Biden should not have run again,” O’Rourke said. “He failed this country in the most important job that he had. … And it’s not just you and me, but our kids and grandkids and the generations that follow that might have to pay the price for this.”
The 2020 presidential candidate seemed to suggest Biden should have settled on the idea of a one-term presidency straight from the outset and called for an open primary — an idea he said would have excited “not just Democrats, but the people of this country who did want change.”
The release of a new book accusing Biden and his closest allies of covering up his deteriorating condition before he pulled out of the 2024 election has given new urgency to conversations about whether Democrats should have done more to pressure him to withdraw from the race earlier.
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a likely 2028 presidential contender, said Democrats “maybe” would have done better if Biden had never sought the 2024 nomination.
“Right now — with the benefit of hindsight — I think most people would agree that that’s the case,” he added.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), who served as a co-chair of Biden’s campaign and has also been floated as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, appeared evasive when asked if she thought Trump would have still won if Biden didn’t pursue reelection or at least left the race earlier.
“Maybe, maybe not,” she told CNN’S Pamela Brown.
Biden ended his 2024 presidential bid over the summer, about 100 days before Election Day.
O’Rourke said Democrats need to come to terms with the idea that they were wrong to support Biden in order to regain the trust of voters.
“I think that credibility problem is going to persist up until when Democrats say we fucked up and we made a terrible mistake,” he said.
O’Rourke, who lost to incumbent Greg Abbott in Texas’ 2022 gubernatorial election, has not closed the door on running for the Senate in 2026.
