- President Joe Biden appeared Friday for his first interview since last week’s debate with President Donald Trump.
- Donors and supporters see the interview as key to addressing criticism of Biden’s poor debate performance.
- Here are four things you need to know about it.
All eyes were on ABC News on Friday as President Joe Biden appeared in his first interview since his disastrous defeat in last week’s debate.
Biden’s Democratic donors and supporters saw the interview as key to addressing criticism of his poor performance in the debates, where he repeatedly stumbled over his words and lost his train of thought.
Here’s what you need to know about how Biden’s post-debate interview went.
1. He will stay in the race
In the wake of the debate debacle, some major Democratic donors, including Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and Disney heiress Abigail Disney, have pledged to withhold funding from the party until Biden drops out of the race.
Some of his former loyalists, including four current House Democrats, have joined in calling for him to step down.
While some reports have said Biden privately acknowledged he may lose reelection, in an interview with ABC News he publicly reiterated his current plans to continue the campaign.
“Are you being honest with yourself when you say you’re mentally and physically capable of serving another four years?” ABC’s George Stephanopoulos pressed Biden.
“Yes, I do,” the President replied, “George, the last thing I want is to not be able to meet that condition.”
2. Biden called debate night a “bad episode.”
Biden called his poor performance on the night of the debate a “bad incident,” but stressed that his sloppy language and poor answers were “not indicative of anything more serious.”
“I was exhausted,” Biden told ABC News. “I didn’t follow my instincts in terms of preparation, and I had a terrible night.”
Biden, 81, has faced criticism over the years about his age and fitness to be president, but that criticism intensified after the debate, with Biden’s campaign offering a range of contradictory excuses for the sitting president’s lackluster performance, including illness, jet lag and inadequate debate preparation.
When Stephanopoulos pressed Biden on whether nearly a week at Camp David, where he traveled to France to mark the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, hadn’t been enough time for him to recover, Biden replied that he was not feeling well.
“I felt awful,” Biden said. “The doctors were with me, actually. I asked if they would do a COVID test because they were trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see if I had the virus. I didn’t. I just had a bad cold.”
3. The president seems to be thinking about his legacy.
Biden insisted he plans to continue campaigning for reelection and joked he would consider resigning if “Almighty God” demanded it, but in some of his answers he appeared to reflect on his performance in the debate and his record as president in general.
“If I stopped now, I’d go down in history as a pretty successful president,” Biden said.
So what if Trump wins?
“As long as we’ve done our best, we’ll be OK,” Biden said.
“That’s the essence of the issue,” Biden said.
Notably, Biden avoided a question about what he would do if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies asked him to resign.
4. Biden appears to be in denial about his declining approval ratings.
When pressed about his continued lackluster poll numbers, Biden became defiant and said the data was not accurate.
“I remember them telling me the same thing in 2020: I can’t win. The polls show I can win,” Biden said. “Before the vote, I said that’s not going to happen. We’re going to win.”
Biden, who won in 2020, became the first US presidential candidate to receive more than 80 million votes. In an interview, Biden spoke about his historic victory and reiterated his intention to win again.
Stephanopoulos asked Biden if he had seen recent reports about discontent within the Democratic Party, which Biden similarly ignored.
“I’ve seen it through the reports,” Biden said.
5. Viewers still don’t seem convinced
On social media, the 22-minute video of the interview was met with immediate skepticism and even criticism from many viewers.
Some slammed ABC News for airing a pre-recorded version instead of livestreaming it, while others criticized Biden’s responses and appearance during the interview.
“I’m not feeling any better,” one Instagram user wrote in the comments. “I think this interview has made it even worse.”
Initial reactions were not all negative, with some people reaffirming their support for Biden.
“I appreciate that he accepted responsibility,” wrote another Instagram user. “I’ll still vote for him. In my opinion, no more mistakes are allowed.”
