Hillary Clinton called Joe Biden’s 2024 re-election bid “a terrible mistake” in an interview with The New Yorker’s editor David Remnick, arguing the decision cost Democrats the presidency and may have permanently damaged the former president’s legacy.
Speaking at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan on Monday, June 15, the former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic nominee said Biden had reneged on a prior commitment to step aside. “He made a terrible mistake for himself, his legacy, and for the country,” Clinton said, describing his choice to hold on to the nomination “for as long as he did” as a “terrible miscalculation.”
Clinton argued that had Biden announced in late summer 2023 that he would not run, a genuine Democratic primary would have produced a stronger nominee. “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 said, according to The Guardian.
Biden eventually abandoned his re-election bid on July 21, 2024, following a disastrous debate performance against Trump. He then handed over the nomination to Vice President Kamala Harris, who went on to lose the general election to Trump a few months later.
Clinton’s comments reflect broader Democratic scrutiny of Biden’s decision to seek a second term. Some high-ranking Democrats expressed deep frustration with Biden for failing to recognize earlier in the election cycle that he was not up to the task, according to reporting from the time of the 2024 defeat. A 2025 Democratic National Committee autopsy report identified structural challenges—voters’ desire for economic change, Republicans’ media advantage, and misalignment on Gaza and other issues—but also noted the party had lost ground at every level of government for nearly two decades.
In her remarks, Clinton explained the bind that Biden’s late withdrawal created: “Once he 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.” The timing of Biden’s withdrawal, just weeks before the Democratic National Convention, left little time for a competitive primary process that might have energized the party’s base or tested alternative candidates.
Sources
- The Guardian — Hillary Clinton’s remarks at 92nd Street Y on June 15, 2026, her criticism of Biden’s 2024 re-election decision, and her claim that another Democrat would have beaten Trump
- The New Yorker — Interview between David Remnick and Hillary Clinton on Biden’s decision and Democratic Party challenges
- Wikipedia — Timeline of Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race on July 21, 2024
- WHYY — Democratic frustration with Biden’s handling of the 2024 election cycle and the timing of his withdrawal
