U.S. President Joe Biden has claimed he was forced to withdraw from the November 5 presidential election by members of his Democratic Party who believed his candidacy would jeopardise their electoral prospects.

In an interview with CBS on Sunday, Mr Biden revealed the political scheming that influenced his decision.

“The polls we had indicated it would have been a close contest, likely coming down to the wire. However, several of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate were concerned that my candidacy would harm their chances,” Mr Biden claimed.

He further explained, “I feared that if I remained in the race, the focus would shift to issues like ‘Why did Nancy Pelosi say this?’ or ‘Why did so-and-so do that?’ I thought it would be a significant distraction, which was my primary concern when asked about my unprecedented decision to withdraw from the presidential race in the midst of the campaign.”

This was Mr Biden’s first interview since he withdrew from the race in July, endorsing Vice-President Kamala Harris to contest against Republican nominee former President Donald Trump.

The 81-year-old leader exited his re-election bid in July after relentless pressure from his party members, following a lacklustre performance in a presidential debate with Mr Trump, which raised concerns about his mental and cognitive alertness.