Former ABC News reporter Amy Robach has mentioned the issues she had with President Joe Biden's recent speech, in which he addressed his exit from the 2024 presidential race.
On Wednesday, Biden made his first major public appearance since he confirmed he was ending his reelection campaign and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him as the Democratic Party's 2024 presidential nominee. His decision followed weeks of mounting pressure from within his party and from key Democratic donors, who urged him to step aside for the party's future.
Robach discussed the speech with T.J. Holmes during an episode of their podcast, Amy & T.J., titled "Biden's Speech." The former Good Morning America 3 co-anchors were relieved of their hosting duties in December 2022 after news leaked that they were in a romantic relationship. After they departed from the show, they started a podcast together. Their first episode went live on December 5, 2023, exactly one year after they were taken off the air.
In Thursday's episode, Holmes said, "We have now seen and heard from President Biden for the first time since his decision to get out of the race, and what were you expecting versus what we got?"
"I knew it would be probably short, but it was much shorter than I expected—11, 12 minutes depending on who was doing the timing," Robach replied, adding, "He did start right on time, and I clocked it at 8:12 when he was done. So that was a little shocking just how short it was."
She continued: "I was surprised that he never explained why he was getting out of the race. He never addressed the issues about the accusations about his mental acuity. He never even touched on that. And he barely spoke—I think it was one line—about the woman he endorsed, Kamala Harris. So those things all surprised me."
Newsweek has contacted Robach and Biden's press team for comment via email outside usual business hours.
Holmes told listeners that the address was Biden's legacy speech, in which he was supposed to talk about what he had done as president and why he was getting out of the race.
"He did do this from the Oval Office. This was a prime-time speech," Holmes said, adding that the president looked "sharp. He looked pretty good."
Robach said: "This was a historic moment. This was a painful moment for him personally, for the family. He absolutely did not want to get out of the race. This was not something that he personally wanted to do.
"There was clearly political pressure. And some people have suggested this was even a political intervention of sorts, so this resignation wasn't necessarily something he chose. A lot of people have said he was forced out, so this had to be an incredibly painful evening for President Biden and for every member of his family who supported him."
Holmes said while it was painful, it also added to the "political theater" taking place in the U.S. during this election cycle.
"Here we are watching, I guess not something I would ever think I would see necessarily in my lifetime," he said.
"This wasn't a resignation, but this was a sitting president deciding not to—voluntarily deciding," he continued. "OK, we can—yeah, some people will debate that word, if this was voluntary. But he's making the choice to step aside."
During his speech, Biden said his achievements as president "merited a second term," but that he believed it was in the best interest of the country to "pass the torch to a new generation."
"It's been the honor of my life to serve as your president. But in the defense of democracy, which is at stake, I think it's more important than any title," Biden added.
He also said that in November's election, the U.S. would have to choose between "moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division."
Biden continued: "We have to decide, do we still believe in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice and democracy?
"In this moment, we can see those we disagree with not as enemies, but as fellow Americans. Can we do that? Does character in public life still matter?"
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