Anthony Coley says Biden lost voter trust after the Afghanistan withdrawal, not the debate, and should have exited the 2024 race then.

Panel Examines Roots of Biden’s Election Struggles

On the anniversary of then-President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential election, a former Justice Department spokesman offered a pointed analysis of the factors behind Biden’s loss of public trust. Anthony Coley, now an NBC News contributor, argued that the turning point for Biden came not during his contentious debate performance, but in the aftermath of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Speaking during a panel discussion, Coley emphasized that while the debate was memorable for Biden’s faltering energy and delivery, it merely reinforced existing concerns among voters. “You can have the best message in the world, you can have the best policy agenda in the world, but at the end of the day, if you don’t have a trusted messenger… you’re gonna lose,” Coley said. “And that’s what happened on the presidential level in 2024.”

Coley pointed to August 2022, when the Biden administration’s handling of the Afghanistan exit was widely criticized, as the moment Biden’s polling and public confidence began to decline sharply. “People started losing confidence in Joe Biden – whom I love, who I worked for in his administration – right after the Afghanistan debacle,” Coley explained. “His polling never recovered after Afghanistan.”

The withdrawal, which was marked by chaotic scenes at Kabul airport and mounting criticism over the evacuation process, cast a long shadow over Biden’s presidency. Coley argued that despite a momentary boost in confidence following the midterm elections, the administration’s credibility was fundamentally undermined by the foreign policy episode.

Calls for Earlier Exit and Primary Reform

Coley suggested that Biden should have “bowed out” of the race following the Afghanistan crisis, urging the Democratic Party to embrace a more competitive primary process. “We should have had a robust primary process,” he said, reflecting a growing sentiment among some Democrats that an open contest might have produced a more resilient nominee.

The panel discussion also touched on recent comments from Hunter Biden, who attributed his father’s debate difficulties to exhaustion and medication following strenuous international travel. Hunter’s remarks, delivered on the “Channel 5” podcast, added to the debate over the party’s 2024 strategy and the challenges faced by the Biden campaign.

As the Democratic Party continues to assess the lessons of the last election, Coley’s comments highlight the lasting political fallout from the Afghanistan withdrawal and the centrality of public trust in presidential politics. With Vice President Kamala Harris ultimately succeeding Biden as the nominee, the party is still reckoning with the decisions that shaped the outcome of 2024 and the path forward for future campaigns.