President Joe Biden made a special appearance on Wednesday's episode of "The View" — as part of a series of public outings in the final stretch of his tenure in the White House — becoming the first sitting president to appear live on the show.
Chief among Biden's observations during the sit-down was his acknowledgment that “there’s not a lot of redeeming value” to former President Donald Trump, the Republican opponent to Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race. When asked if he felt he could have beaten Trump in the election, Biden said, “Yes. I was confident I would beat Trump. He’s a loser.”
Regarding his decision to bow out of the race, the president shared that he was "at peace" with it, and took the chance to endorse his Veep. “She is smart as hell, No. 1,” he said. "She’s tough, she’s honorable, and the thing I like about her — and one thing to share in common — is that we have an optimistic view of the future.”
Host Whoopi Goldberg followed by stating that she "didn't like the way they did it," regarding Democratic calls for Biden to step down.
"I'm just going to say it out loud because nobody says it out loud. I didn't like the way it was done publicly, I thought they could've done this in a different way. We didn't need to hear all the inner fighting. I didn't like it, I'm saying it to you, you were my ride-or-die," she said. "I was going wherever you were going, that's where I was going. I just wanted to say that because I always felt you were going to probably do four years and then try to figure out where to go with Kamala [Harris.]"
Speaking about Trump, Whoopi said "He was like a bug! He just kept being there, he was like a bug right there, bzzz.” Biden then mimicked swatting at an insect.
Given that a large part of the reason Biden withdrew from the race had to do with his flailing debate performance, it only made sense that he incorporated a few age-related jests in his conversation with "The View"'s hosts. Turning to host Alyssa Farah Griffin, he said, “I know you’re only 30, but it’s hard to think of — it’s hard for me to even say how old I am. No, I’m serious. I give you my word. It’s like, holy God, that can’t be right, this can’t be right … No woman close to me is as old as I am. None.”
“Right now they are!” Goldberg replied.
As noted by the New York Times, during a commercial break, an ABC employee shared that there was a 95-year-old woman in the audience. The president gave her a thumbs-up and said he'd like to meet her after the show concluded.
