In a striking public rebuke from one of the party’s most recognizable figures, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton openly blamed Joe Biden’s decision to seek another term for helping pave the way for President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Speaking during a conversation in New York with New Yorker editor David Remnick, Clinton offered what may be the bluntest assessment yet from a top Democrat about the political catastrophe that unfolded in 2024.
“He made a terrible mistake. He made a terrible mistake for himself, his legacy, and for the country. He had said that he would not run again. And counterfactual narratives are always a bit tricky,” Clinton said.
According to Clinton, Biden missed a critical opportunity to step aside early enough for Democrats to hold a genuine primary battle and allow a new generation of candidates to emerge.
“But I believe if he had kept to that plan and said, in, say, the late summer of ’23, that he wasn’t going to run, that he was going to pass, you know, the torch to the next generation, we would have had a real contest,” she said. “And very sadly, 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.”
That claim is certain to fuel an already raging debate inside Democratic circles about whether party leaders ignored warning signs for too long. Critics had spent months raising concerns about Biden’s age and public performance before the issue exploded into the open following his disastrous debate appearance against Trump in June 2024.
Millions of Americans watched as questions about Biden’s stamina, sharpness, and ability to serve another four years moved from partisan talking points to front-page news. Pressure from donors, strategists, elected officials, and even friendly media outlets intensified in the weeks that followed. Eventually, Biden withdrew from the race in July. But by then, Clinton suggested, the damage was already done.
“So I think it was a terrible miscalculation on the part of President Biden. But once he didn’t move, and 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,” she said.
That “terrible dilemma” became one of the most chaotic presidential campaign pivots in modern political history. With little time remaining before Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris inherited the Democratic nomination without going through a competitive primary process. Republicans immediately argued voters had been denied a meaningful choice, while Democrats scrambled to unify around a campaign launched under extraordinary circumstances.
The result was devastating for the party. Trump returned to power after capturing every major swing state and assembling a coalition broad enough to overwhelm Democratic hopes of holding the White House.
Clinton’s comments are notable not only because of their severity, but because they reflect a growing willingness among Democrats to publicly revisit decisions that many party insiders spent years defending. During Biden’s presidency, questions about succession were often dismissed as disloyalty. Now, with Trump back in office, the finger-pointing phase appears fully underway.
And in a twist that was unthinkable just a few years ago, one of the Democratic Party’s most prominent figures is effectively arguing that Biden’s refusal to exit the stage sooner may have been the defining political mistake that opened the door for Trump’s comeback. Hmmm. That’s not what she said in 2023.
In Clinton’s earlier 2023 remarks, she is openly supportive of Biden’s decision-making around running for president. In that version, she emphasizes that it should be his choice whether to run again, praises his performance as “terrific,” and says she would support him if he chose to run. The tone is affirming and aligned with backing his leadership and candidacy.
In the later 2026 remarks, she is criticizing the outcome of that decision, saying it was a mistake for him to run and suggesting that he should have stepped aside earlier. She also argues that if he had not entered the race, the political outcome might have been different and more competitive.
𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑: “𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐁𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐔𝐍” — 𝐈𝐍 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: “𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐀 𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄”
“𝘏𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘤𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥… pic.twitter.com/usmN1C6HCe
— M.A. Rothman (@MichaelARothman) June 16, 2026
