President Joe Biden acknowledged a weak performance during last week’s presidential debate, but tried to assure Americans during an ABC News interview that he would be fit again in 2024 for the race for the White House against Donald Trump.
Speak with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News FridayBiden said he was “exhausted” during the event, making for a performance in which the current commander-in-chief appeared weakened and sluggish, stoking distrust among his base and eroding support for a second White House run. Biden has been working since last week, when the debate was broadcast on CNN, to find ways to re-prove himself to voters, even as furor circulates through the media and Beltway circles over whether he is still qualified to lead the nation.
“It’s a bad episode… not indicative of a serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts during the preparation,” Biden said. “It was a bad night.”
He said his performance during the debate was “nobody’s fault but mine.”
Still, he tried to counter Stephanopoulos, noting that Trump “lied 28 times.” More than once, Biden claimed that Trump was “a pathological liar” and a “congenital liar” who was not a public servant but was only out to enrich himself.
Over and over again, as Stephanopoulos pressed Biden about his abilities and his willingness to step aside, Biden tried to defensively argue that he is best equipped to defeat former President Trump at the ballot box in November. He also made clear that he considers himself best prepared to protect the nation from geopolitical volatility around the world, especially in Ukraine and Gaza.
“I am the most qualified person to beat him, and I know how to get things done,” Biden claimed. He later reinforced: “I don’t think anyone is better qualified to be president or win this race than me.” And he warned that he
‘And who will be able to hold NATO together like me? Who’s going to be able to be in a position where I can hold the Pacific basin in a position where we can at least now checkmate China? Who’s going to – who’s going to do that? Who has that reach? … I think a good way to judge me is that you will be holding the NATO conference here in the United States next week. Come listen. Look what they say.”
Biden was pithy and defensive as Stephanopoulos referred to the panic among Democrats caused by his surprisingly weak performance in the June 27 debate broadcast live on CNN. “I have met them,” Biden insisted as the host named Democratic Congressional leaders including Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi and Hakeem Jeffries. He also emphasized the high stakes of these elections, given all the challenges ahead.
“You’ve heard me say this before. I think the United States and the world are at an inflection point where the things that happen in the next few years will determine what the next six, seven decades will be like,” Biden said.
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The public reaction to the ABC News interview is crucial for Biden and is part of a series of events that the White House hopes will demonstrate that he still has strong control over the country’s affairs. Yet there was one answer that seemed confusing. Stephanopoulos asked Biden if he had watched the entire debate in its aftermath and the president replied: “I don’t think so, no.” It was unclear whether Biden watched parts of the event or watched none of it with aides.
At one point, during an argument with Stephanopoulos over his standing in various polls, Biden stumbled over references to CBS News, NBC News and the New York Times.
Biden sounded most convincing when he argued that his chances of winning had been discounted before, like in 2020, and he has proven his doubters wrong.
“The last time I participated in 2020 I had a lot of Democrats with me. Look, I remember them telling me the same thing in 2020. ‘I can’t win. The polls show I can’t win,” he said. Biden also pointed to Democrats’ better-than-expected performance in the 2022 midterm elections. “Remember, the red wave was coming. Before the vote I said, ‘That’s not going to happen. We are going to win.’ We did better in a down year than almost any sitting president ever has,” he said.