President Joe Biden is scheduled to sit down for a one-on-one interview with NBC’s Lester Holt. The 81-year-old president remains adamant about his decision to stay in the presidential race despite pleas from some prominent Democrats.
“BREAKING: @NBCNews anchor Lester Holt will be in Austin, TX on Monday for an exclusive one-on-one interview with President Biden,” NBC’s Monica Alba wrote on X, announcing the upcoming interview.
The full interview will air in a primetime special at 9pm ET that same day.
breaking news: @NBC News Host Lester Holt will have an exclusive one-on-one interview with President Biden in Austin, Texas on Monday. The full interview will air that same day as an NBC primetime special at 9pm ET/8pm CST.
— Monica Alba (@albamonica) July 10, 2024
A few days before the announcement, the network’s streaming channel, NBC News Now, aired a crazy rant in which a guest claimed Biden “definitely” had Parkinson’s disease. NBC gave Dr. Tom Pitts, a neurologist who has never personally examined or evaluated the president, more than six minutes to diagnose Biden based solely on a video clip.
The interview came as Democrats grappled with concerns following Biden’s poor debate performance, in which he appeared disoriented, frozen, muttered and repeated points that had been thoroughly refuted.
RELATED — What was that?! After a week of rest and preparation, Biden coughed, stumbled and rambled his way through the debate
Courtesy of CNN Presidential Debate
Despite the initial reaction, Biden made it clear to congressional Democrats that he had no plans to step down, writing in a letter this week that “Democrats have voted.”
“They chose me as their party’s nominee. Now you’re saying the process didn’t matter?” Biden asked. “Don’t the voters have a say?”
“I decline,” he continued, adding, “I feel a deep obligation to the trust and faith that Democratic voters have placed in me to run for office this year. That is their decision to make — not the media, not the pundits, not big donors, not any select group of individuals, no matter how well-intentioned.”
“The voters, and only the voters, decide who the Democratic nominee is. How can we defend democracy in our country when we ignore democracy in our own party?” Biden asked. “I can’t do that. I won’t do that.”
This morning, I sent a letter to my Democratic colleagues in Congress in which I shared my thoughts about this moment in the campaign.
Now is the time to come together, move forward as a united party, and defeat Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/ABtAaJrr0n
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 8, 2024
The issue is sure to come up during the interviews, as voters have yet to see a strong Democratic Party unified. While some Democrats support Biden, others are lining up with him and some have explicitly called on the 81-year-old Biden to drop out of the race.
This was Biden’s second interview since the debate – his first was with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos.
