WASHINGTON — Former President Joe Biden on Thursday sat down for his first live television interview since leaving the White House, joining ABC’s “The View” to discuss the 2024 election, President Donald Trump’s record thus far back in office and conversations on his own mental decline. 

The former Democratic president started the interview by himself before being joined by former first lady Jill Biden to continue the discussion. 

The appearance largely marks the one-term president’s first venture back into the public eye since exiting Washington in January after dropping his reelection bid less than four months before the 2024 election and endorsing his vice president, Kamala Harris, who subsequently lost to Trump. Biden gave the first interview of his post-presidency tenure to British outlet BBC News earlier this week.

Here are four signifcant topics Biden addressed in his Thursday TV appearance and takeaways from each. 

Biden said he was “not surprised” by Harris’ 2024 election loss to Trump and argued her opposition leaned into a message that sought to use her gender and race against her. 

“I wasn't surprised – not because I didn't think the vice president was not the most qualified person to be president – she is, she is qualified to be president of the United States of America,” Biden said. “I wasn't surprised because they went the route of – the sexist route.” 

The former president added that they looked to undercut “the notion that a woman [could] lead the country – and a woman of mixed race.” 

Biden pushed back on the idea that waiting to drop out of the election hindered Harris’ chances but said he did take a degree of responsibility for Trump’s ultimate victory. 

“Yes, I do, because, look, I was in charge and he won,” he said. 

One of the party’s – and his administration’s – biggest mistakes, Biden said, was not being able to “advertise” his accomplishments in office, which the former president noted he knew would take time to be fully felt. 

Nonetheless, Biden said he still believes he would have beaten Trump should he have stayed in the race. 

He also responded to the criticism Harris received for not breaking with Biden more on the campaign trail, including during her own appearance on “The View” weeks before the election in which she said “there is not a thing that comes to mind” when asked what she would have done differently from her boss, something Trump then campaigned on.

Biden rejected the notion that he told his vice president not to break with him and argued her answer was misinterpreted. He noted the pair would “argue like hell” in a positive way. 

Asked about his predecessor and successor's first 100 days back in office – a mark hit last week – Biden said he believes Trump has done “a very poor job in the interest of the United States of America.” 

He attributed his decision to just start speaking out now to following “tradition.”

“You just let the new guy come and have a first – get off the ground without going after him,” Biden said. 

The former president went on to slam Trump on foreign policy and specifically NATO, saying he has “blown it up.” Trump frequently criticizes the military alliance, particularly over other member countries’ defense spending, as he pushes an “America first” approach on the world stage. 

“But I'm worried that the impact will be long-term and negative, even if we win again and put it back together again,” Biden said, seemingly referring to the Democratic party. 

Domestically, Biden accused Trump of “going after people's health care and Social Security.” 

Biden said conversations about his mental decline, and particularly the books that have come out since he dropped out of the race reportedly detailing it, are “wrong.” 

“There is nothing to sustain that,” he said of the reports.

The former first lady jumped in to say that “the people who wrote those books were not in the White House with us and they didn’t see how hard Joe worked every single day.” 

In all, Biden said he was “optimistic” about the future, including that of the Democratic party, even as it struggles to find its footing against Trump and a fully Republican-controlled Congress. 

“I'm optimistic, I'm not pessimistic,” Biden said. 

Biden made the comment when he was asked about Harris’ future. Biden noted that he and his former vice president “stay in touch” and that she has sought his opinion. He declined to say what Harris is considering for her future but added he hopes she “stays fully engaged.” 

“She’s got a difficult decision to make about what she is gonna do,” he said. “I hope she stays fully engaged, I think she is first-rate. But we have a lot of really good candidates as well.” 

As for himself, Biden said he was writing another book.