Bringing Back Joe? Why?

There seems to be a high-level campaign to put Joe Biden back on the public stage:

Former President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will join ABC's "The View" on Thursday for their first joint interview post-presidency.

The couple will join the show live in-studio to discuss life after the White House, the Democratic Party's election losses in 2024, and the current political landscape following President Donald Trump's first 100 days, ABC News reported.

The former president had his first post-White House interview with the BBC on Wednesday, in which he criticized President Trump's foreign policy, saying his peace deal between Ukraine and Russia would be "modern-day appeasement," and slammed the Republican president's threats to obtain Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal.

Via Politico this morning,

In a sign of Biden’s intent to remain engaged publicly, his inner circle tapped Chris Meagher, a former Biden deputy press secretary and Defense Department spokesperson, to help him transition past the first 100 days of the Trump administration, according to multiple people familiar with the hire and granted anonymity to speak freely.

Meagher, who has worked for former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, played an instrumental role in booking Biden’s appearance on The View on Thursday, the people said, his first live interview since President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

According to CNN last month,

Joe Biden has been hankering to do more. Many leading Democrats across the country — including some former top aides and close allies, who note they’re sad to say it — are desperate for the former president to stick to a quiet retirement.

But Tuesday in Chicago, Biden waded into one of the most charged political fights set off by President Donald Trump. The first big public speech of Biden’s post-presidency focused on protecting Social Security and comes as many Democrats stage a national day of action against feared cuts to the program, with protests planned across the country.

. . . Asked by CNN about hearing from the former president since January 20, one longtime supporter and donor said only this: “No. Thank God.”

. . . Only a few of Biden’s most loyal aides stayed with him, mainly those who were the last fighting for him to stay in the presidential race. He’s been mostly at home in Delaware, coming back to an office in Washington about once a week, often via his beloved Amtrak. He’ll occasionally get spotted around Wilmington, but his public appearances have been limited to a Model United Nations conference in New York, a St. Patrick’s Day brunch in Delaware and accepting a lifetime achievement award from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers at the union’s convention in Washington this month.

Apparently this is about to change, although the big question is whether anything will change with Joe.

Biden’s BBC interview bucked the longstanding tradition of presidents keeping their counsel about their successors. In it, he condemned Trump’s expansionist fantasies and expressed his contempt for the Trump White House’s treatment of America’s traditional allies.

“What the hell’s going on here? What president ever talks like that?” Biden asked. “That’s not who we are. We’re about freedom, democracy, opportunity, not about confiscation.”

Reaction from the White House after the interview suggested there's nothing new:

Joe Biden is a complete disgrace to this country and the office he occupied. He has clearly lost all mental faculties and his handlers thought it'd be a good idea for him to do an interview and incoherently mumble his way through every answer.

Sadly, this feels like abuse. https://t.co/UKkysv1lKs

— Steven Cheung (@StevenCheung47) May 7, 2025

This has actually been in the works for some time. According to NBC News bzck in March,

Former President Joe Biden has told some Democratic leaders he’ll raise funds, campaign and do anything else necessary for Democrats to recover lost ground as the Trump administration rolls back programs the party helped design, according to people close to him.

Biden privately met last month with the new Democratic National Committee chairman, Ken Martin, and offered to help as the party struggles to regain its viability amid polling that shows its popularity has been sinking, the people said.

So far, Biden's overture seems to have fallen flat. Democrats find themselves adrift, casting about for a compelling messenger.

Whoever that is, it's not Biden, many party activists and donors contend. He's tethered to the 2024 defeat and, at 82, is a symbol more of the party's past than its future, they argue.

“Who’s going to want Joe Biden back in the game?” said a major Biden supporter, speaking on condition of anonymity to talk candidly about him.

The problem for the Democrats is that each time either Joe or Kamala reappears, it only serves as a reminder that the country made the right choice last November. It appears that the White House has contingency plans in case there are further recurrences:

The Trump administration is making plans to release the audio of former President Joe Biden’s interview with Robert Hur, the special counsel who investigated Biden’s handling of classified documents and raised questions about his mental acuity, according to two Republicans briefed by top Trump officials.

The details of the plan are in flux and it is not clear whether President Donald Trump and his advisers have made a final decision to make the audio public.

Biden’s camp is girding for the possible release, said two people familiar with the former president’s preparations and granted anonymity to speak freely.

A deadline of sorts is approaching on May 20: In separate Freedom of Information Act lawsuits brought by conservative groups like Judicial Watch and the Heritage Foundation and various news organizations, the Justice Department has been ordered by a judge to say whether it will stand by Biden’s assertion of executive privilege to block the release of the tapes. Last May, Biden and his Justice Department claimed releasing the tapes would have a chilling effect on witnesses cooperating in high-profile investigations.

John Nolte comments at Breitbart,

The Trump White House might be hedging on the public release of the Hur interview, fearing the release might set a precedent that could undermine executive privilege in the future.

I suspect Trump's instinct will be to release the interview. On one hand, it's hard not to think the idea of keeping Joe in the public eye is the brainchild of Dr Jill, with Hunter possibly pushing it as well. On the other, it doesn't sound as if anyone on the Democrat side is powerful enough to stop it. Mark Halperin, though, has possibly the most insightful take:

I talked to someone very familiar with the Bidens, and I think they've pointed out something that I'm gonna say now that to me is the explanation, or at least part of the explanation, which is Biden Inc has collapsed. All those Biden grandkids had a lavish lifestyle which they very much liked. Hunter made hundreds of thousands of dollars, millions of dollars. Joe as a former president is not in a position to get the kinds of paid speeches, corporate boards, book deal. Biden Inc needs a source of revenue. . . . Hunter does not have great earning capacity.

This may be true, but we should also keep in mind that Biden Inc was never more than smoke and mirrors. Joe likely owes many millions at this point, especially after he seems to have funded Hunter's lifestyle and many of his legal bills throughout his presidency. How can Joe possibly make this up now?