First Lady Says Biden Dropping Out of 2024 Race Was ‘Right Call’

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‘We’re ready for the new journey,’ the first lady says.

First Lady Jill Biden on Monday said it was the “right call” for her husband, President Joe Biden, to announce in July that he is not running for reelection.

In an interview with ABC News’s “Good Morning America,” the first lady said that “it was the right call,” referring to her husband’s decision. She made the remark as she was giving ABC a tour of the White House, which includes new exhibits and a new room added to the tour list.

“I have had such a great four years. Joe and I … it has been the honor of our lives. It will be tough to maybe step away from it. We’re starting a new chapter of our lives, a new journey,” the first lady said.

Both she and Biden have “been in politics over 50 years,” the first lady said. “We’re ready for the new journey,” she added, referring to her husband’s lengthy career as a U.S. senator from Delaware for decades, then vice president, and now president.

In late July, Biden took the unprecedented step of announcing that he is suspending his presidential campaign and backing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s nominee for president. The announcement was made amid questions about his performance during his first and only 2024 debate with former President Donald Trump.

With her husband leaving the Oval Office in a few months, the first lady was asked about what legacy she wanted to leave.

“Education has been my life’s work. It’s important to me that people learn. And learn about the White House, about the presidency, learn about our government and our democracy and how blessed we are to live in America,” she said.

Since Biden left the race, the first lady has made few public comments about his decision, although she released a statement soon after he made the announcement. Biden has said that no one in the Democratic Party forced him to leave the race, explaining to CBS News in August that he was concerned about a possible distraction ahead of the 2024 contest.

“A number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in the races,” Biden told CBS. “And I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic. You’d be interviewing me about why did Nancy Pelosi say, why did so—and I thought it’d be a real distraction.”

Meanwhile, the president has made few campaign appearances for Harris so far, although he did stump for the vice president at a Democratic Party dinner in Philadelphia earlier this month.

Biden, who praised Harris at the event, also suggested to the audience that a Harris administration would not be a carbon copy of his administration.

“Every president has to cut their own path. That’s what I did. I was loyal to Barack Obama, but I cut my own path as president. That’s what Kamala is going to do,” Biden remarked. “She’s been loyal so far, but she’s gonna cut her own path.”

Harris has deployed top current and former Democratic officials, including former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, at campaign events. Obama has participated in multiple events for Harris, including a campaign stop in Pittsburgh earlier this month in which he admonished black men who are not supporting Harris.

On Monday, Harris held a moderated conversation in Pennsylvania with former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who has emerged as one of her surrogates. Trump, meanwhile, traveled to Asheville, North Carolina, to survey the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, which hammered western North Carolina in late September.

An election-tracking website provided by the University of Florida shows that as of Monday, more than 15 million people had voted, including by absentee ballot or early in person. The general election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.