“The brunt of this loss is on President Biden,” said Andrew Yang, who ran against Biden for the Democratic nomination in 2020 and endorsed Harris’ unsuccessful bid.
“If he had stepped down in January instead of July, we might be in a very different place.”
Biden will leave office after leading the US out of the worst pandemic in a century, boosting international support for Ukraine after the Russian invasion and passing a $1 trillion ($1.5 trillion) infrastructure bill that will affect communities for years to come.
But after running against Trump four years ago to “bring back the soul of the country,” Biden will give way after just one term to his immediate predecessor, who overcame two impeachments, a felony conviction and a rebellion launched by his supporters. Trump has promised to radically reshape the federal government and undo many of Biden’s priorities.
“Maybe 20 or 30 years from now, history will remember Biden for some of these accomplishments,” said Thom Reilly, co-director of the Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy at Arizona State University.
“But in the short term, I don’t know that he’s going to avoid the legacy of a president who defeated Donald Trump only to usher in a new Donald Trump administration four years later.”
The president stayed out of sight for a second day in a row on Wednesday, making calls congratulating Democratic lawmakers who won congressional races and Trump. Biden invited Trump to a meeting at the White House, and the president-elect accepted.
On Thursday morning (early Friday AEDT), Biden avoided directly addressing an electorate that appeared to be rejecting his presidency. Instead, he noted, Americans will feel the effects of the administration’s signature legislative efforts for years.
“Don’t forget everything we’ve accomplished,” Biden said in a brief Rose Garden address attended by cabinet members and top aides, but not Harris.
“It’s been a historic presidency — not because I’m president, but because of what we’ve done. What you’ve done.”
Biden said he spoke with Trump and assured him he would direct his administration to ensure a “peaceful and orderly transition” because that’s what the people deserve.
He subtly nodded to how Trump in 2020 refused to accept that he lost the election.
“In a democracy, the will of the people always prevails,” Biden said.
Who was with Donald Trump on stage during his victory speech?
The president reiterated that America’s electoral system is “fair, honest and transparent. And it can be trusted, win or lose.”
He released the statement shortly after Harris gave her concession speech on Wednesday, praising her for running a “historic campaign” under “extraordinary circumstances.”
Some senior Democrats, including three Harris campaign advisers, expressed deep frustration with Biden for failing to recognize earlier in the election cycle that he was not up to the challenge. The advisers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
Biden, 81, ended his re-election campaign in July, weeks after a poor debate performance sent his party into a tailspin and raised questions about whether he still has the mental acuity and stamina to serve as a credible candidate.
But polls long ago showed that many Americans were worried about his age. About 77 percent of Americans said in August 2023 that Biden was too old to serve another four years, according to the AP-NORC Public Affairs Center poll.
The president backed down on July 21 after receiving not-so-subtle encouragement from Democratic Party powerhouses, including former President Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California. Biden endorsed Harris and handed over his campaign to her.
Yang argued that Democratic Party leaders also deserve blame for taking too long to oust Biden. With a few exceptions, most notably Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, Democrats have avoided talking publicly about Biden’s age.
“Why didn’t this come from Democratic leaders?” Yang said.
“A lack of courage and independence and an excess of careerism, if I just keep my mouth shut, we’ll keep riding.”
How the world’s newspapers reported on Trump’s election victory
The campaign was also beset by anger among some Arab-American and young voters over Israel’s approach to the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. Senator Bernie Sanders, an ally of Biden and Harris, said in a statement that Democrats have lost track of the concerns of working-class Americans.
“Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any lessons from this disastrous campaign?” said independent Vermont.
“Will they understand the pain and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing?”
Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Jaime Harrison took to social media Thursday to address Sanders’ criticism, saying Biden is “the most professional working-class president in my lifetime.”
Harris managed to inspire far more enthusiasm than Biden generated from the party base. But she struggled to discern how her administration would differ from Biden’s.
“Nothing comes to mind,” Harris said, giving Trump’s campaign a recurring theme throughout Election Day.
Strategists advising the Harris campaign said the tight campaign schedule made it even harder for Harris to differentiate himself from the president.
If Biden had retired earlier in the year, they said, that would have given Democrats enough time to hold primaries. Going through the paces of intra-party competition would force Harris or another possible candidate to more aggressively highlight their differences with Biden.
Strategists acknowledged that overcoming widespread discontent among the US electorate over rising costs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and general concerns about the US immigration system weighed heavily on the minds of voters in key states.
Still, they said Biden left Democrats in an untenable position.
Harris senior adviser David Plouffe called it a “devastating loss” in a post on X.
Plouffe did not assign blame and said the Harris campaign “dug a deep hole, but not deep enough.” The post was later deleted.
In the vice president’s concession speech Wednesday, some Harris supporters said they wished the vice president had had more time to introduce herself to American voters.
Republicans are poised to control the White House and the Senate. Control of the House has yet to be determined.
Matt Bennett, executive vice president of the Democratic group Third Way, said this moment was the most devastating moment the party has faced in his life.
“Harris was dealt a very bad hand. Some of it Biden did, some of it maybe not,” said Bennett, who was an aide to Vice President Al Gore during the Clinton administration.
“Would Democrats have been better off if Biden had retired earlier? I don’t know if we can say for sure, but that’s a question we’ll be asking ourselves for a while.”