In his first interview since ending his re-election bid, Still-The-President Joe Biden makes it clear that he decided to step aside for the good of the country.
President Biden sat down with CBS Sunday Morning's Robert Costa, who has profiled the President's lengthy career and knows him well, on Wednesday at the White House.
The President was well aware of the pressure from both the media and certain members of his party questioning his ability to serve a full second term. He concluded that staying in the race would be a "distraction," and “would have been down the wire."
But worse, Joe Biden couldn't stand the idea that his staying in his race could hurt other Democrats in theirs. His decision became an even more selfless one as he put both his caucus and his country ahead of his desire to "finish the job," as he often says.
"I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic you’d be interviewing me about," the President said. " ‘Why did Nancy Pelosi say…? Why did someone?’ And I thought it’d be a real distraction.”
President Biden told Costa that he was thinking about his promise to his beloved late son, Beau, when he was grappling with one of the toughest decisions of his nearly 40-year political career.
There had been clues that President Biden was only going to serve one term when he was running last time. “I thought of myself as being a transition president" in 2020, he told Costa
But Joe Biden still feels he did the right thing. "Although it’s a great honor being President," he said, "I think I have an obligation to the country to do … the most important thing we can do, and that is, we must, we must, we must defeat Trump.”
Watch the full interview, below.