Former President Biden gave a halting and mumbling performance on The View as he gave his first joint interview since leaving the White House. 

Biden, 82 years old, was warmly welcomed by The View hosts as he jogged onto the studio, attempting to appear lively as he returned to the spotlight.

However, within minutes, the elderly man began to clear his throat and stumble over his words, stating that he was ‘not surprised’ by Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

He mentioned that Trump received ‘seven million fewer votes’ than in their 2020 election face-off and criticized Trump for taking the ‘sexist route’ to undermine Harris’ presidential campaign.

Biden was welcomed with soft-ball questions as he began the interview, with Whoopi Goldberg asking him first off the bat: ‘Well, how are you?’ 

Ana Navarro also quipped that he could serve as the ‘next Pope’, in an apparent dig at Trump’s meme of himself becoming the next papal leader amid the ongoing Conclave.  

The interview is a rare public appearance for Biden since he left the presidency almost four months ago. 

This week, he gave his first solo interview to BBC Radio 4’s Today program, where he claimed he took so long to bow out of the 2024 presidential race because he was so ‘successful’ in office before implying Harris would have lost anyway. 

Biden also raised eyebrows with his appearance at the funeral of Pope Francis last month, as he was seen gripping a priest’s arm as he struggled to walk down a set of stairs. 

Former President Biden gave a halting and mumbling performance on The View as he and Jill Biden gave their first joint interview since leaving the White House

The octogenarian jogged as he entered the studio to a big cheer, in an apparent attempt to look sprightly as he re-entered the limelight

In his interview earlier this week, Biden whispered, mumbled, coughed, and paused for long moments as he conducted his first broadcast since leaving office. 

When asked why he did not end his 2024 campaign earlier, he said: ‘I don’t think it would have mattered.’  

Much of Biden’s presidency was overshadowed by questions about his cognitive state. After a disastrous debate against Donald Trump on June 27 last year he took nearly a month to finally end his reelection bid, finally calling time on July 21.

That gave Harris just 106 days to build-out a presidential campaign, and she ultimately lost to Trump in November.

‘It’s a question lots of people ask you, Mr. President – did you leave it too late? Should you have withdrawn earlier, given someone else a bigger chance?’ BBC journalist Nick Robinson asked.

‘We left at a time when we had a good candidate,’ Biden said of Harris in the interview that aired Wednesday morning. ‘She was fully funded.’  

Biden also raised eyebrows with his appearance at the funeral of Pope Francis last month, as he was seen gripping a priest’s arm as he struggled to walk down a set of stairs 

‘And what happened was, what we had set out to do, no one thought we could do,’ the former president added. ‘We had become so successful in our agenda, it was hard to say, ‘I’m gonna stop now.”

Biden also took the opportunity to hit out at his successor Donald Trump, accusing him of ‘modern-day appeasement’ in his attempts to end the Russia-Ukraine War.  

‘What the hell’s going on here? What president ever talks like that?’ he added about Trump’s plans to annex Greenland and Canada.

‘That’s not who we are,’ he continued. ‘We’re about freedom, democracy, opportunity, not about confiscation.’ 

The ex-president struggled throughout the interview to properly articulate his thoughts, refusing to address Trump by his name.

He also mumbled and took long pauses, sighing heavily and speaking in a whisper at times.

Biden also voiced his worries about relations between US-Europe declining under the Trump administration, as Allied nations marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day this week.

He called it ‘foolish’ to think Putin would concede if parts of Ukraine were given in a peace deal.

The appearance on The View also comes as a diary Jill Biden reportedly kept during their time in the White House is set to be used in a tell-all book

The appearance on The View also comes as a diary Jill Biden reportedly kept during their time in the White House is set to be used in a tell-all book. 

The former First Couple have faced a slew of embarrassing articles and books on Biden’s decline in office, and Biden is said to have been preparing a book to combat the allegations. 

Insiders told the Daily Mail the couple could land a book deal worth $30 million.