Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said former President Joe Biden isn’t solely to blame for President Donald Trump’s return to the White House for a second presidential term.
While appearing Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Murphy admitted that Biden “should’ve gotten out of the race earlier” ahead of the 2024 election, but also passed the buck onto the Democratic Party.
“It was a mistake for democrats to not listen to the voters earlier and set up a process that would’ve gotten us in a position where we could’ve been more competitive,” he explained.
When host Kristen Welker firmly asked Murphy to confirm whether he also takes responsibility for the party’s failure, the politician replied, “I think we all bear responsibility.”
“We maybe didn’t listen as early as we should have, in part because we have immense loyalty to [Biden] ― who had led this country out of a pandemic, who had been maybe the most prodigious legislator as a president,” Murphy explained.
Despite taking ownership, Murphy told Welker that “you can’t defend what the Democratic Party” did as Trump’s administration continues to cause a stir among voters and lawmakers amid his second term.
“But ultimately, in retrospect, you can’t defend what the Democratic Party did because we are stuck with a madman, with a corrupt president in the Oval Office, and we should have given ourselves a better chance to win,” he added.
Elsewhere in the interview, Welker referenced claims made against Biden and his aides in the upcoming book, “Original Sin,” by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson, set to release Tuesday. In the book, the two journalists allege that Biden’s aides covered up the politician’s physical and cognitive decline from the public.
Welker questioned Murphy over whether he believes White House officials orchestrated a “cover-up” on Biden’s behalf.
“I saw a president who was in control,” Murphy, who stated he had not read the book, said of his interactions with Biden in 2022 and 2023. “But I admit that by 2024, the American public had made up their mind, right, that they wanted the Democratic Party to nominate somebody new, and it was absolutely a mistake for the party to not listen to those voters.”
Watch Murphy’s appearance on “Meet the Press” here.