Biden says he thinks he could have beaten Trump in the 2024 election

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden in an interview published Wednesday said he still believes he could have defeated President-elect Donald Trump in the 2024 election but isn't sure if he could have served a full second term.

“It’s presumptuous to say that, but I think yes,” Biden told USA Today during a wide-ranging interview when asked if he could have won had he not exited the campaign in July.

Biden said that he still thinks that he could have defeated Trump because of the polls he had reviewed, according to USA Today. He wasn't confident, however, that he could have served a full second term. “I don’t know,” he said.

Before Biden had dropped out of the 2024 race in July, some polls showed he was trailing Trump or the race was in a dead heat.

When he announced his decision to withdraw, Biden said, “While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term."

Biden immediately endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party's 2024 presidential nominee, and later said in a prime-time address that he thought "the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation."

His decision came after weeks of intensifying pressure from leaders within his own party, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to pull out of the presidential race. The growing revolt followed Biden's devastating debate performance in late June, which put his health, age and cognitive abilities in question.

Some Democrats later expressed that the wish that Biden had decided not to run for re-election, or at least drop out much earlier in the process.

Biden told USA Today that he thinks "the only advantage of being an old guy is that I’ve known every major world leader for a long time."

"I had a perspective on each of them and their interests,” he said. “And so I think it helped me navigate some of the fundamental changes taking place, whether it’s in Europe, in Latin America, in the Middle East, in the Far East.”

Ultimately, Trump won the election after securing 312 electoral votes compared to Harris' 226 electoral votes. He won the popular vote 49.8% to 48.3%.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com