President Joe Biden thinks he would have been re-elected in 2024 had he not faced pressure to drop out of the race after a widely criticized debate performance.
In an interview with USA TODAY before leaving office, Biden said he believes he would have beaten Trump, but may not have had the energy to complete a full four-year term, noting he feels fine now, but "who knows what I'm going to be when I'm 86 years old?"
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With less than two weeks left in office, Biden is still working and considering preemptive pardons for people like Liz Cheney, who served on the January 6 Select Committee and Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has been criticized by many on the right for his work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden told USA TODAY that he told Trump during their White House meeting that he should not seek to "settle scores." The president said Trump didn't really respond and "just basically listened."
As Biden reflects on his presidency, he is proud of his record.
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"I hope that history says that I came in and I had a plan how to restore the economy and reestablish America's leadership in the world," Biden told USA TODAY. "That was my hope. I mean, you know, who knows? And I hope it records that I did it with honesty and integrity, that I said what was on my mind."
However, the president also has some regrets, including battling misinformation.
"Because of the way, nature, the nature of the way information is shared now, there are no editors out there to say 'That's simply not true,'" Biden said.
