President Joe Biden on Wednesday warned of an “all-out war” looming in the Middle East, even as he expressed hope for helping to broker a peace agreement between Israel and its neighboring enemies.
“An all-out war is possible,” Biden said on ABC’s The View Wednesday when asked about the gravity of the situation.
As Israel bombards Hezbollah and the terrorist militia fires back at Tel Aviv, Biden said, “I’m a very strong supporter of Israel. I make no bones about it. I said years ago I was a Zionist.”
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Biden explained that “all Zionist means is there needs to be an Israel.”
Surrounded by an adoring panel of the show’s co-hosts, Biden also took mild swan-song parting shots at Donald Trump. When asked about his thoughts on Trump, Biden paused for several seconds. “Not a lot of socially redeeming value there,” he finally said of the man he defeated in 2020 who is now running against his replacement candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
“He really does not believe in democracy,” Biden said, adding that “January 6 was absolutely bizarre.”
The outgoing president, who was forced out of his reelection race by leaders of his own party, went on to joke about his age. “I know I only look 40 but I’m 180 years old,” he said, adding that when he hears his age said out loud—81 years old—he thinks, “Holy God that can’t be right.”
Co-host Joy Behar, a youthful looking 81-year-old, quietly consoled the president, whispering in his ear and even holding his hand. The president appeared slow and stiff as he walked onto the set.
Biden also insisted that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi didn’t force him out of the race. “That wasn’t the reason that I stepped down,” he said. “I stepped down because I started thinking of it.”
“I’m at peace with my decision,” Biden added.
And he called the woman to whom he passed the baton “tough” and “smart as hell,” adding, “As vice president there wasn’t a single thing that I did that she couldn't do.”
The appearance also served a trip down memory lane with The View airing previous clips of interviews with Biden throughout the years—something that only served to accentuate how quickly he has aged in just the past four years of his presidency. The old clips also reminded the six women who host the daytime talk show that Biden wasn’t always the social progressive he’s become.
“You’ve evolved,” Whoopi Goldberg said. She asked Biden at one point if he thought he could have defeated Trump. “Yes. I was confident I would beat Trump. He’s a loser,” Biden said.
The comedian talk show host said Trump was a nuisance, “like a bug right there—bzzz, bzzz,” she said, mimicking an imaginary bee buzzing around the table. Biden instinctively slapped his hand down, pretending to squash the bug.
The Trump campaign had something to say about that.
“You’ve been the best,” co-host Ana Navarro, a former Republican, told the president.
