President Joe Biden is set to give an interview to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos later this week, marking his first since the president’s widely criticized performance during last week’s debate. Portions of the interview will air on ABC’s “World News Tonight” on Friday, with the extended interview first airing on the network’s “This Week” Sunday morning program, the network announced Tuesday.
There has been private discussion among Biden’s campaign about how to counteract the fallout from last Thursday’s debate, where the 81-year-old president gave some convoluted and incomplete answers. This has led to questions about whether Biden should continue his campaign. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also mentioned that Biden plans to hold a press conference during the NATO summit next week in Washington.
Throughout Biden’s presidency, there have been frequent complaints from the Washington press corps that he has seldom made himself available for extended interviews or news conferences, which are occasions for the public to see him tested to think on his feet. Stephanopoulos, who works as the host of “Good Morning America” and “This Week,” joined ABC News in 1997 after working for the Clinton administration in Washington.
In his first television interview since his CNN debate with Donald Trump, Biden brushed off his poor performance as a “bad episode” and said he alone was to blame for what transpired. Biden sat down with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos in Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday after a fiery rally with Democratic supporters, during which Biden insisted he is remaining in the race.
Stephanopoulos immediately dove into last Thursday’s showdown, which sparked widespread alarm among Democratic lawmakers and pundits about Biden’s ability to campaign and serve another four years. “Let’s start with the debate. You and your team have said you had a bad night,” Stephanopoulos began. “Sure did,” Biden responded.
Stephanopoulos went on to ask Biden about a statement from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who led the House during the first two years of Biden’s administration and ushered through some of his signature policy achievements. “But your friend Nancy Pelosi actually framed the question that I think is on the minds of millions of Americans: Was this a bad episode or the sign of a more serious condition?” Stephanopoulos asked. “It was a bad episode,” Biden said. “No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and — and a bad night.”
Biden traveled internationally in mid-June to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day in France. But he spent nearly a week at Camp David after that in the run-up to the debate to meet with close advisers and prepare. Stephanopoulos pressed Biden, “Why wasn’t that enough rest time, enough recovery time?” “Because I was sick. I was feeling terrible,” Biden said. “Matter of fact the docs with me. I asked if they did a COVID test because they’re trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn’t. I just had a really bad cold.”
“Did you ever watch the debate afterwards?” Stephanopoulos asked Biden. “I don’t think I did, no,” the president said. But did he know how badly it was going while he was on stage? “Yeah, look. The whole way I prepared, nobody’s fault, mine. Nobody’s fault but mine. I– I prepared what I usually would do sitting down as I did come back with foreign leaders or National Security Council for explicit detail. And I realized– partway through that, you know, all– I get quoted the New York Times had me down, ten points before the debate, nine now, or whatever the hell it is. The fact of the matter is, what I looked at is that he also lied 28 times. I couldn’t– I mean, the way the debate ran, not– my fault, nobody else’s fault, no one else’s fault.”
“But it seemed like you were having trouble from the first question in, even before he spoke?” Stephanopoulos asked. “Well, I just had a bad night,” Biden said. ABC News offered a similar interview opportunity to Trump but he declined.
In a much-anticipated interview Friday with ABC News, Biden attributed his terrible debate performance to “a bad episode” and a “bad night” and defiantly said he would not drop out of the presidential race. He was working to try to reassure his fellow Democrats, fielding tough questions in a 20-minute interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, which was aired in its entirety.
Biden defended his record, said he was the candidate best placed to defeat former President Donald Trump in November, and declined to take an independent medical evaluation – including a neurological and cognitive test – to show he’s fit to serve another term. “I have a cognitive test every single day,” Biden said. “Not only am I campaigning, but I’m running the world,” he said. Asked whether he would stand down if he could be convinced that he cannot defeat Trump, Biden was defiant: “Well, it depends if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that — I might do that.”
Biden was pressed on what went wrong. Biden, 81, said he “was exhausted” during last week’s presidential debate against Trump, and added there was “no indication of a serious condition.” He had been “feeling terrible” ahead of the debate, but medical tests determined it was just a “really bad cold.” After the debate, Biden said, his doctor looked at him and said: “You’re exhausted.”
When asked if he was the same man today as he was when he took office in January 2021, Biden replied: “Yes. I also was the guy who put together a peace plan for the Middle East. … I was also the guy that expanded NATO.” He said the economy had grown during his administration.
Asked if he had shown signs of decline in the last few months, as reported by several news organizations, Biden replied: “Can I run 110 flat? No. But I’m still in good shape.” He was asked if he was more frail, he simply replied: “No.”
On Friday afternoon, Biden told reporters that he had the support of elected Democratic leaders from around the country. Biden said he has talked to at least 20 congressional leaders and all Democratic governors and they have told him to stay in the race.
The Washington Post reported Friday that Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., was working to try to get a group of Democratic senators to ask for Biden to leave the campaign. Responding to that report, Biden said: “Mark Warner, I understand, is the only one considering that.” In the ABC interview, he said: “Mark is a good man… I have a different perspective.”
But Warner wasn’t the only voice. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey urged Biden Friday to evaluate whether he was the party’s best hope to beat Trump. “Healey didn’t say anything when I was in the room,” Biden told reporters, referring to a meeting he had with the nation’s Democratic governors this week.
And Democratic leaders in the House have decided to convene a virtual meeting on Sunday with the top Democrats on House Committees, according to a source familiar with the planning who requested anonymity to discuss a private call. While the interview was appointment viewing by Democratic leaders, it’s unclear how widely it will resonate among voters. Polls have long shown that voters have concerns about Biden’s age, but whether the debate — let alone the interview — will move the needle is still an open question. “What I’m hearing from voters on the ground is — well, a lot of them might not even know that this interview is happening on Friday,” Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Ga., told NPR.
Source: ABC News, Washington Post, NPR
