Former President Joe Biden’s new book, “Promise Me, America,” offers new details on his final days as a 2024 presidential candidate, including a list of calls he made after announcing he would drop out of the race — and two prominent Democrats who were notably left off it.
According to reporting by Matt Viser of The Atlantic, Biden called union presidents and governors after his withdrawal announcement, along with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at 3:09 p.m. and former President Bill Clinton at 3:14 p.m. A 7:06 p.m. call to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer went to voicemail. Not on the list: former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former President Barack Obama.
In the book, Biden defends his decision to seek a second term and pushes back on critics who say he stayed in the race too long out of ambition.
“Today there is no shortage of people who think I blindly raced to run again. Driven by ambition. Selfishness. Unaware of the concerns about my age,” Biden writes. “I knew better than anyone how old I was. I knew what I was—and wasn’t—capable of doing. I carefully monitored how I was meeting the demands of the job. And there is not a single example of me failing to handle my responsibilities.”
Biden describes his widely criticized debate performance against Donald Trump simply as a moment when he “lost my train of thought,” and he says he wishes he had been given a second debate.
The book also recounts friction with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who pressed Biden to leave the race.
“I told Schumer he had a lot of gumption (I may have said it differently at the time), coming to my home telling me to get out of the race. Loyalty matters to me. If I give you my word I stick with you. If I say I’m with you I’m with you to the end,” Biden writes.
Separately, the book recounts an exchange from 2022 in which Mitt Romney, then a Republican senator, offered Biden advice at the White House on how to appear more energetic in public.
“You’re holding your hands stiffly by your side when you walk. Pump your arms and you’ll look more energetic and confident,” Romney told Biden, according to the book. Biden reportedly tried to take the advice.
Viser reports that Biden remains frustrated about being pushed out of the race and has, in Viser’s words, “some scores” to settle with members of his own party.
