PHOENIX (AP) 鈥� Joe Biden鈥檚 time in public office is now behind him, but his have become a litmus test for the next leaders in his party.
Audio was published Friday from portions of interviews Biden gave to federal prosecutors in 2023, the latest in a stream of reports putting questions about Biden's health back in the spotlight. Months after former President Kamala Harris lost to President Donald Trump, a new book alleges that White House aides covered up Biden's physical and mental decline.
Several potential Democratic contenders for the 2028 nomination have been asked in recent days whether they believe Biden was declining in office or whether he should have sought reelection before a led to his withdrawal.
Many Democrats would prefer to focus on Trump's second term. Trump has done his best to prevent that 鈥� mentioning Biden's name during his first 100 days in office, according to an NBC News analysis 鈥� and Republicans have followed his lead, betting that voters frustrated by Trump's policy moves will still prefer him over memories of an unpopular presidency.
In the race for Virginia governor, one of this year's highest-profile contests, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears is running a pair of digital ads tying Democrat Abigail Spanberger to Biden, with images of and the former president calling her a friend.
鈥淭he stench of Joe Biden still lingers on the Democratic Party,鈥� Democratic strategist Sawyer Hackett said. 鈥淲e have to do the hard work of fixing that, and I think that includes telling the truth, frankly, about when we were wrong.鈥�
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut this week that 鈥渢here鈥檚 no doubt鈥� that Biden, now 82, experienced cognitive decline as president.
, the former transportation secretary, wasn鈥檛 nearly as blunt but still stopped short of defending Biden鈥檚 decision to run. He responded 鈥渕aybe鈥� when asked Tuesday whether the Democratic Party would have been better off if Biden hadn鈥檛 tried to run for a second term.
鈥淩ight now, with the advantage of hindsight, I think most people would agree that that鈥檚 the case,鈥� Buttigieg told reporters during a stop in Iowa.
Illinois Gov. said he didn't see signs of mental or physical decline in his meetings with Biden.
鈥淚 saw him a few times,鈥� he told CNN this week. 鈥淚 certainly went to the White House whenever there was an opportunity for me to make the case for something for people in my state. And I never had the experience of anything other than a guy who brought to the table a lot of good ideas about how to solve problems.鈥�
The book 鈥淥riginal Sin,鈥� by journalists Jake Tapper of CNN and Alex Thompson of Axios, revives a core controversy of Biden鈥檚 presidency: his decision to run for a second term despite voters, including Democrats, telling pollsters that he should not run again. Biden would have been 86 at the end of a second term had he won in November.
A spokesperson for Biden did not respond to a request for comment.
鈥淲e continue to await anything that shows where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or where national security was threatened or where he was unable to do his job,鈥� the spokesperson has told many media outlets in response to the book.
Late Friday, Axios published portions from audio recordings of Biden's six hours of interviews with prosecutors investigating his handling of classified documents after his term as vice president ended in 2017.
The Biden administration had already released transcripts of the interviews, but the recordings shed light on special counsel Robert Hur's characterization of Biden as 鈥渁 sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory鈥� and appeared to validate his claim that the then-president struggled to recall key dates, including the year his son Beau died of cancer in 2015.
Biden and his aides pushed back aggressively against Hur's report, which they characterized as a partisan hit. Biden was at that time 鈥� early 2024 鈥� still planning to run for a second term and fending off accusations that he was too old for another four years in the job.
The recordings released by Axios include Biden's discussion of his son's death. His responses to some of the prosecutors' questions are punctuated by long pauses, and his lawyers at times stepped in to help him recall dates and timelines.
Before he dropped his reelection bid last summer, Biden faced widespread doubts within his own party, even as Democratic leaders dismissed both a series of verbal flubs and Republican allegations about his declining acuity.
In January 2022, just a year into Biden鈥檚 first term, an AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that only 48% of Democrats wanted him to seek reelection. That fell to 37% of Democrats in . Three-quarters of Americans 鈥� and 69% of Democrats 鈥� that they believed Biden was too old to serve as president for another four-year term.
And shortly after his debate flop, said Biden should withdraw from the race.
Biden and former first lady Jill Biden appeared on ABC鈥檚 鈥淭he View鈥� in a preemptive defense of his health and decision-making before the first excerpts of 鈥淥riginal Sin鈥� were published.
He said but attributed Harris鈥� loss, at least in part, to sexism and racism. He maintained that he would have won had he remained the Democratic nominee. Both Bidens rejected concerns about his cognitive decline.
Patricia McEnerney, a 74-year-old Democrat in Goodyear, Arizona, said Biden should not have tried to run again.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 sad the way it ended,鈥� she said.
She compared him to Douglas MacArthur, the World War II and Korean War general famously dismissed by President Harry Truman.
鈥淚 think he needs to stop giving interviews. I think that would help,鈥� McEnerney said. 鈥淟ike MacArthur said, generals just fade away.鈥�
Janet Stumps, a 66-year-old Democrat also from Goodyear, a Phoenix suburb, had a different view.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 going to hurt the Democrats,鈥� Stumps said. 鈥淚 feel badly that he feels he has to defend himself. I don鈥檛 think he has to. Everybody ages. And the fact that he did what he did at his age, I think he should be commended for it.鈥�
Hackett, the Democratic strategist, predicted Biden won鈥檛 be a major factor in the 2026 midterms or the 2028 presidential primaries. But he said Democrats who want voters to trust them would be well-served 鈥渂y telling the truth about the mistakes that our party made in the run-up to 2024.鈥�
鈥淭hose mistakes were largely driven by Joe Biden, and I think any Democrat not willing to say that is not really prepared to face the voters, who want the truth and they want authenticity,鈥� Hackett said.
Rick Wilson, a former GOP strategist who co-founded the anti-Trump group the Lincoln Project, said Republicans want to talk about Biden to avoid defending Trump. But he said the strategy is folly.
Besides 鈥減olitical nerds,鈥� he said, 鈥渘o one else cares.鈥�
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This story has been corrected to show the ads linking Spanberger and Biden are digital ads, not television ads.
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Associated Press writer Thomas Beaumont contributed to this report from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Jonathan J. Cooper, The Associated Press
