'Maybe it's simply that when you're there every day, you don't see it,' the former staffer told the BBC about Biden's age
A former senior White House staffer lamented in a comment to the BBC that President Biden was like a "different person" compared to the earlier days of his administration.
"Watching Biden speak, I'm like, oh my God, this is a different person," a senior staffer in the Biden White House told the outlet in a piece about the president's legacy. "Maybe it's simply that when you're there every day, you don't see it."
As the president prepares to exit the White House, Biden has expressed regrets about dropping out of the race in the wake of Vice President Kamala Harris' loss to President-elect Donald Trump, and said he thinks he could have beaten him.
"As things started to become a grind and you lose that sense of getting big things done, it can give way to infighting and frustration," the same senior staffer told the BBC.
US President Joe Biden speaks to the media after signing the Social Security Fairness Act at the White House in Washington, D.C., January 5, 2025. (CHRIS KLEPONIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Democratic strategist Susan Estrich told the BBC that Biden's legacy was essentially that Trump's presidency would book-end his own.
"He'd like his legacy to be that he rescued us from Trump," Estrich said. "But sadly, for him, his legacy is Trump again. He is the bridge from Trump One to Trump Two."
The BBC report also noted a comment from another senior Biden official, who lamented that the White House was more decisive early on in the presidency.
"As things started to become a grind and you lose that sense of getting big things done, it can give way to infighting and frustration," the individual told the BBC.
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
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President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
BBC reporter Anthony Zurcher said he asked Attorney Merrick Garland how history would grade the Biden administration.
"I'll leave that to the historians," he replied, according to the outlet.
Biden revealed how he hopes to be remembered during an interview with USA Today's Susan page.
"I hope that history says that I came in and I had a plan how to restore the economy and reestablish America's leadership in the world," he said. "That was my hope."
"And I hope it records that I did it with honesty and integrity, that I said what was on my mind," he said.
Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.