In a sit-down interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Biden, 81, acknowledged his disastrous performance at last week’s debate, calling it a “bad episode.”
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Stephanopoulos pressed Biden on the debate and reports that his lapses and gaffes have become more common in recent months.
“Are you the same man today that you were when you took office three-and-a-half years ago?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“In terms of success, yes. I also was the guy who put together a peace plan for the Middle East that may be comin’ to fruition,” Biden said, adding that he expanded Nato and grew the economy.
“All the individual things that were done were ideas I had or I fulfilled. I moved on.”
Biden appeared to joke about the concerns regarding his age and mental fitness, saying that he couldn’t “run the 100 in 10 flat.”
“But I’m still in good shape,” he assured.
Later on in the interview, Stephanopoulos asked the President if he would make the decision to step down if he wasn’t capable of beating his rival, former President Donald Trump.
“If you can be convinced that you cannot defeat Donald Trump, will you stand down?” he asked.
“It depends on if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that,” said Biden.
“I might do that.”
Biden repeated the comment, saying: “If the Lord Almighty said ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race but the Lord Almighty is not coming down.”
Throughout the interview, Stephanopoulos grilled Biden about his win in 2020, where he ousted Trump from the White House by a close electoral college vote.
Stephanopoulos noted that Biden is currently behind on the popular vote, which the President didn’t agree with.
“Is it worth the risk?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“I don’t think anybody’s more qualified to be President or win this race than me,” said Biden.
He echoed these words in a tweet earlier that night, writing: “Let me say this as clearly as I can: I’m the sitting President of the United States. I’m the nominee of the Democratic party. I’m staying in the race.”
DODGING QUESTIONS
Biden wouldn’t commit to taking independent cognitive and neurological tests, shutting down several questions from Stephanopoulos.
An article from The New York Times reported that people who have spent time with the president over the last several months “said the lapses appear to have grown more frequent, more pronounced and, after Thursday’s debate, more worrisome.”
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When asked if he had a specific cognitive test or been examined by a neurologist, Biden said, “No. No one said I had to. No one said. They said I’m good.”
Stephanopoulos pressed him again, asking Biden if he would be willing to undergo an independent medical evaluation and release the results publicly.
“Look. I have a cognitive test every single day,” said Biden.
“Every day I have that test. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, but I’m running the world.
“Not – and that’s not hi – sounds like hyperbole, but we are the essential nation of the world.”
When Stephanopoulos again asked if Biden would be willing to have an independent medical evaluation, the president appeared to dance around the subject.
“Watch me between – there’s a lotta time left in this campaign. There’s over 125 days.”
The president was asked if his answers meant he was refusing to do the exam, Biden said, “Well, I’ve already done it.”
MAKING UP
Biden’s strangely orange appearance during the interview was mocked on social media with some saying he looked similar to Trump.
“Biden should never borrow Trump’s fake tan,” wrote one person on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Biden’s post-debate gaffes
President Joe Biden’s gaffes have increased at an alarming rate over the past few years.
- Biden alarmingly described himself as a “Black woman” during a radio interview with Philadelphia station WURD on Thursday.
- “I’m proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first black woman… to serve with a black president,” Biden said, appearing to confuse himself with Vice President Kamala Harris.
- Biden previously served as VP to President Barack Obama, the US’ first black president, which is likely the source of his confusion.
- The president also attempted to go off-script and insult rival, Donald Trump, while addressing military families during the White House’s Fourth of July barbecue.
- While Biden came in strong, he fumbled his word and came crashing down.
- “By the way, you know I was at that World War I cemetery in France and a – the one that one of our colleagues, a former president, didn’t want to go and be up there,” Biden said in an apparent dig at former president Donald Trump.
- “I probably shouldn’t even say that. Anyway,” he continued as his voice dimmed.
- After shocking the audience, he quickly went back on script and tried to get the energy back up.
“I just… can we talk about Biden getting a f**king SPRAY TAN?” wrote another person.
A third asked: “Why have you adopted the orange spray tan?”
Earlier this week, Trump mocked Biden for his changing complexion, posting a photo of the president on his platform, Truth Social.
“Biden’s debate performance was rated poor, with the arrow pointing left. That means it was less than poor,” Trump wrote in a separate post.
“Mine was rated, ‘the best in the history of Presidential Debates.”
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