President Biden reiterated on Friday that he felt terrible before last week’s debate but called it a “bad incident” and not part of a larger symptom, and defended his candidacy in his first interview since calls began growing for him to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race.
“It was a terrible event. I had no signs of any serious symptoms. I was exhausted,” Biden told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in a high-profile post-debate interview last week. “I didn’t follow my instincts in terms of preparation, and I had a terrible night.”
Stephanopoulos noted that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), an ally of the president, said this week that it would be fair for voters to ask whether Biden has some ailment or whether his poor performance last week against former President Trump was just a “blip.”
Early in his debate performance, Biden spoke in a soft, raspy voice and often struggled to complete sentences, but the White House said at the time that he had a cold. The then-president blamed his poor performance this week on recent international travel; he had returned from Europe 12 days before the debate.
Stephanopoulos questioned the timing, noting that Biden spent six days at Camp David preparing for the debate and that the president has said he believed he had COVID-19.
“I was feeling sick, I was feeling awful, and in fact, my doctor was there with me and I asked if I wanted to take a COVID test because I wanted to know what was wrong with me,” Biden said. “The test was to see if I had any kind of infection, any kind of virus. I didn’t. I just had a bad cold.”
The White House said Friday that Biden had “verbally reviewed” with his doctor during the debate about the cold, after telling reporters earlier this week that he had not undergone a medical checkup. The White House did not mention a COVID-19 test.
When Stephanopoulos asked Biden if he had listened to the debate again after it was broadcast, Biden replied, “I don’t think I had.”
The president also claimed that former President Trump lied 28 times during the debate.
Stephanopoulos responded that Biden had been in trouble from the first question of the debate, to which the president responded, “Well, I just had a bad day tonight.”
Biden has faced overwhelming criticism after a poor debate performance, losing the support of donors and fellow Democrats and even calls for him to drop out of the 2024 race.
Ahead of the interview, Biden held an energetic rally in Wisconsin, where he declared he had no plans to drop out of the race and hit back at his critics.
