Joe Biden has taken a swipe at Donald Trump in a brutal parting letter penned to the US public.
The outgoing President, 82, is participating in a final week of goodbyes ahead of his planned departure on January 20, when he hands Mr Trump the keys to the Oval Office following his inauguration. The days leading up to the key date have been defined by significant political jostling between Democrats and Republicans.
Mr Biden landed the latest broadside on his opponent in a parting letter reminding the public of Trump supporters’ attempts to overturn the US election in a message released today. In one passage, he reminded the incoming President of the “worst attack on our democracy” just two weeks before the last inauguration.
The letter, published online by the White House earlier today, saw Mr Biden recount his four years in office, including the situation in which he assumed the Presidency. While touching on the economy and Covid pandemic, the President also appeared to touch on the January 6, 2021 attempted insurrection.
He wrote: “Four years ago, we stood in a winter of peril and a winter of possibilities. We were in the grip of the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War. But we came together as Americans, and we braved through it.
“We emerged stronger, more prosperous, and more secure.” While the letter came out strong against Mr Trump, Mr Biden also admitted that he was not as successful a President in one respect, again appearing to hint at the legacy left behind by his one-time rival in 2020.
His open letter alluded to one core tenet of his campaign four years ago in which he said he believed the “soul of America” hung in the balance of the major race. He said: “I ran for president because I believed that the soul of America was at stake. The very nature of who we are was at stake.”
Suggesting the campaign promise ultimately went unfulfilled, Mr Biden added: “And, that’s still the case.” Recent polling from YouGov has found that, despite the massive controversy he sparked during and after leaving office, Mr Trump still left in 2020 more popular than his successor.
The poll, which quizzed 1,558 US adults on their political opinions, found that Mr Biden was widely disliked, with only 39% holding a “somewhat favourable” opinion of the soon-to-be ex-President. A larger portion – 58% said they viewed him very or somewhat unfavourably.
Mr Trump, who left office soon after the January 6 insurrection, never conceded the election and refused to attend Mr Biden’s inauguration, left office with the “favourable opinion” of 41% of Americans.
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