To hear former President Donald J. Trump tell it, he has just been heartsick over all that has happened to poor old President Biden these past few weeks.
“The presidency was taken away from Joe Biden,” Mr. Trump said at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Palm Beach, Fla., on Thursday afternoon. “I’m not a fan of his, as you probably have noticed. He had a rough debate. But that doesn’t mean that you just take it away like that.”
It has been 18 days since the 46th president was shoved aside by his own party, and the 45th president has yet to get over it. He agonized on Mr. Biden’s behalf, telling a tale of treachery perpetrated against him by former President Barack Obama, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and, most of all, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Recounting how Ms. Harris had attacked Mr. Biden in a Democratic primary debate in 2019 — “She was nasty with calling him a racist and the school bus and all of the different things” — Mr. Trump said Mr. Biden had made a grave mistake by choosing her as his running mate.
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“For some reason, and I know he regrets it — you do, too — he picked her,” Mr. Trump said. “And she turned on him, too. She was working with the people that wanted him out.” (Mr. Biden endorsed Ms. Harris for president 27 minutes after he dropped out of the race.)
There was none of the usual, malicious glee in Mr. Trump’s voice as he rehashed all the drama. He told reporters that Mr. Biden was trying to “put up a good face” but that his exit from the race was “pretty severe” and “pretty horrible.”
