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Former Democratic vide presidential candidate Tim Walz admitted that his party's failure to acknowledge former President Joe Biden's decline hurt its chances in the 2024 election.
“He made that decision,” Walz said of Biden continuing to serve before ultimately ending his re-election campaign less than four months prior to the 2024 presidential election during an interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper, who recently wrote a book about Biden's decline, during a live broadcast of State of the Union on Sunday (April 6).
Walz was among the high profile Democrats to have attempted to downplay Biden's shortcomings after a disastrous performance in the first presidential debate last June.
“Yes, he’s fit for office,” Walz told reporters at the time via the New York Post.
“None of us are denying Thursday night was a bad performance,” he added. “It was a bad get, if you will on that. But it doesn’t impact what I believe — he’s delivering.”
Biden, 82, was the oldest president in American history with President Donald Trump, 78, his predecessor and successor, later becoming the oldest candidate to be elected in November. Walz had previously blamed himself for the "mess" the Democratic Party faces following the loss to Trump in the 2024 election while appearing on MSNBC's All In With Chris Hayes last month.
“We have to make sure that Americans know its just not that Donald Trump is bad, but that we’re offering something better,” he added.