Joe Biden says he could have defeated Donald Trump in the election

US President Joe Biden has said he believes he would have defeated Donald Trump and won re-election in November.

Speaking to USA Today in an exclusive interviewHowever, Biden added that he was unsure whether he would have had the stamina for another four-year term.

“So far, so good,” said the 82-year-old. “But who knows what I’ll be when I’m 86?”

In the wide-ranging interview with Susan Page, Biden also said he was still considering preemptive pardons for enemies of Donald Trump, including former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney and former senior health official Dr. Anthony Fauci.

In the interview, published Wednesday, Biden said he had been “very straightforward with Trump” about the potential pardons during their Oval Office meeting shortly after the November election.

“I tried to make it clear that there was no need for it and it was counterintuitive to his interest to go back and try to settle results,” Biden said, adding that Trump didn’t push back but “just basically listened”.

Biden said his final decision will depend on who Trump picks for his Cabinet.

At the same meeting, Biden said Trump was “complementary” about his economic record.

“He (Trump) thought I was leaving with a good record,” the Democrat said.

The interview with USA Today is the only exit interview Biden has given to a print publication so far.

Media access to Biden has been strictly controlled by the White House – and the president has not held a press conference since dropping out of the race on July 21.

In the interview, the outgoing president also defended the full and unconditional pardon he issued to his son, Hunter Biden, who was facing punishment for two criminal cases – tax evasion and illegal purchase of a gun – despite his repeated insistence that he would not do it.

Biden, who first came to Capitol Hill in 1972 as a U.S. senator, drew criticism from within his own party for his apparent reluctance to drop out of the presidential race because of concerns about his age and mental acuity.

Speaking to USA Today, Biden said “based on polling” he believed he would have won, but admitted his age may have affected him in office.

“When Trump ran for re-election, I really thought I had the best chance to beat him. But I also wasn’t running for president when I was 85 years old, 86 years old,” Biden said. “But I don’t know. Who the hell knows?”

After Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to Trump, senior members of the Democratic Party, such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have said that Democrats might have done better in the election if Biden had left the race earlier.