President Joe Biden has earned the respect of many people across the country in his more than 50 years of elected service, starting when he was first chosen to represent the state of Delaware on the U.S. Senate back in 1972.
However, those 50-plus years of service all went down the tubes in one fell swoop, according to one prominent politician, who said he should have stopped his bid for re-election much sooner than he did.
This week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who’s running for president as an independent candidate, said that Biden ultimately tarnished his entire reputation by staying in the race too long. He even compared the stubbornness Biden showed by remaining in the race to the actions that former President Donald Trump took while in office on January 6 of 2021.
Talking with CBS News on Thursday, Kennedy said:
“I’ve known Joe Biden for 40 years, and I commend him and respect him for the 50 years that he gave in service to our country, but I think he tarred that reputation and that career over the past year by refusing to let go of power. And one of the things that a lot of Americans blame Donald Trump for is the January 6 event, which suggested that he was unwilling to let go of power.
“Part of our traditions is that our leaders relinquish power and they do that graciously. I don’t think President Trump did that graciously, and I don’t think President Biden did either.”
On Sunday, after facing significant pressure to do so, the 81-year-old Biden finally announced that he would be withdrawing from the presidential election. Immediately after making that announcement, he threw his full support behind Vice President Kamala Harris to be the one who takes his spot atop the Democratic Party ticket.
Speaking to the country from the Oval Office Wednesday, Biden said it was time to “pass the torch” to a new generation of American leaders. He added that nothing would get in his way of saving democracy, including his own “personal ambitions.”
In his interview with CBS News, Kennedy said that he only watched some of the remarks that Biden gave. The independent candidate said those remarks were “more of a statement about what his accomplishments were, rather than a reassurance to the American public about where we are today.”
In the past, Kennedy has said that he believed he had a realistic path of winning the presidential election come November should Biden decide to step down. Now, he’ll have that opportunity.
Kennedy is still considered a long shot to win. He’s an independent candidate now, after switching his political affiliation from his previous Democratic roots.
He only recently was granted protection from the Secret Service, and that only came after the assassination attempt against Trump happened at a rally in Pennsylvania two weeks ago.
It seems apparent now that Kennedy is going to have to somehow figure out a way to overcome Trump and Harris if he were to somehow shock the world and become president of the United States.
