President Biden stands by his decision to drop out of the presidential race, the White House said Thursday, and suggested the Democrats’ loss was part of a global phenomenon in which voters rejected incumbents because of pandemic fallout.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, addressing the aftermath of President-elect Donald Trump’s landslide victory, said Democrats rallied around Vice President Kamala Harris after Mr. Biden stepped aside in July. Former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee, defeated her handily. 

“President Biden believes that he made the right decision when he decided to step aside and immediately endorse the vice president. And you saw the party come behind her, support her,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said.

She said the coronavirus crisis had longstanding economic effects, particularly on supply chains, across the globe.

“That’s part of what you saw,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said. “You saw that there was a political toll on incumbent parties around the world here.”

Pressed on whether Mr. Biden and his team were culpable for the loss, Ms. Jean-Pierre left it to others to “look under the hood” of the campaign and air their opinions.

“He understands that the American people made a decision [in the election],” Ms. Jean-Pierre said.

Ms. Jean-Pierre said the administration would focus on keeping the government open and funded, support hurricane victims and nudge along judiciary nominations in the final 74 days of Mr. Biden’s presidency.

At one point in the briefing, Ms. Jean-Pierre did mention that Mr. Biden is the only candidate who ever beat Mr. Trump. 

Mr. Biden, at 81 the nation’s oldest president, dropped out under pressure in July after a disastrous debate performance against Mr. Trump.