WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday dismissed concerns about his cognitive abilities and calls to abandon the campaign trail as he responded to his critics in the most important television interview of his presidency.
In an interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos that aired on primetime television, Biden reiterated that he would not withdraw from the race after his disastrous debate last week, downplaying his performance as a “bad night” due to fatigue and a “really bad cold.”
The roughly 20-minute interview was Biden’s first on television since his disappointing debate performance, in which the incumbent struggled to finish his thoughts, complete his sentences and rebut claims made by former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.
Here are six takeaways from the interview, recorded during Biden’s campaign visit Friday afternoon to Madison, Wisconsin.
Biden says he won’t even consider quitting the race
Biden persisted as Stephanopoulos repeatedly asked him whether he would end his candidacy if Democratic congressional leaders convinced him he couldn’t defeat Trump in November.
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“Well, if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me to do that, I could do it,” Biden said, later insisting that his Democratic allies would not demand that he leave the country.
“I’m not going to answer that question. It’s not going to happen,” Biden said. “I haven’t seen what you’re proposing.”
Biden said he has seen concerns about his candidacy “in the press,” but has not heard them from most Democrats.
Two Democratic members of Congress have publicly called on Biden to drop out of the presidential race. The Washington Post reported Friday that U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, is working to assemble a group of Democratic senators to ask Biden to drop out of the presidential race.
Biden does not commit to taking cognitive test
Biden has said he has not taken any neurological or cognitive tests to measure his mental fitness, nor will he commit to an independent medical evaluation that includes such an exam.
“No, nobody said I had to do it. They said I was fine,” Biden said, adding that he takes a cognitive test “every day” given the demands and responsibilities of the presidency.
More:Biden refuses to say whether he would submit to independent cognitive test and make results public
“Everything I do, I put it through this test,” Biden said. “Not only am I campaigning, I’m leading the world.”
Asked again whether he would take a cognitive test to assure Americans of his health, Biden again declined.
“Look at me carefully. There is still a lot of time left in this campaign. It lasts more than 125 days.”
Biden says he doesn’t believe polls that show him losing
Although Trump leads Biden in virtually every national poll and in most key battleground states, Biden has said he does not currently believe he is losing.
“I don’t believe it,” Biden said.
Biden also said he did not believe his approval rating was as low as 36%, as some polls have shown.
“I don’t think that’s my approval rating. That’s not what our polls show,” he said.
Even before Biden’s disastrous debate, Democrats were growing nervous about a second Trump presidency because of polls showing Biden consistently trailing the former president.
Asked if he was honest with himself about his ability to beat Trump, Biden replied: “Yes, yes, yes, yes.”
“Look, I remember them telling me the same thing in 2020: The polls show I can’t win,” Biden said.
At the end of his interview, Biden gave an answer that is sure to vex his critics about how he would feel in January if Trump won the election.
“I’ll be comfortable as long as I’ve given my best and done the best job I can, that’s what it’s all about,” Biden said.
“I’m still in good shape,” Biden insists
Biden has insisted he is physically and mentally fit enough to stay in the White House for four more years.
“Can I run 100 meters in 10 seconds? No. But I’m still in good shape,” said Biden, speaking more clearly than he did in the debate but still hoarse at times.
Biden said he is not frail or in worse shape than when he entered the White House three and a half years ago.
“I wouldn’t run if I didn’t think I was,” he said of his ability to serve another four years, which would make him 86 at the end of his term.
Stephanopoulos asked if Biden was being honest with himself.
“Yes, I am. George, the last thing I want to do is not be able to do this,” Biden said.
Biden says he didn’t watch the debate
Biden said he did not watch his much-criticized debate, which took place eight days ago.
“I don’t think I did – no,” Biden said.
Biden said his performance was “no one’s fault but my own” and that he had prepared for it by reviewing the documents “explicitly and in detail,” as he does for meetings with foreign leaders through his National Security Council.
Biden said he was having a hard time keeping up with all of Trump’s lies.
Biden was asked about recent comments by former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, calling it a “legitimate question” to ask whether Biden’s debate performance was a “bad episode” or a sign of a more serious “condition.”
“It was a bad episode,” Biden said. “There’s no indication that it was a more serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparation. I had a bad night.”
Biden says recent trip left him tired due to ‘very bad cold’
Biden was asked how he could have been tired from a recent trip abroad – as he claimed – when he returned to the United States 12 days before the debate.
“Because I was sick. I felt terrible,” he said, adding that he felt so bad that he asked his doctors to test him for COVID and other viruses, which came back negative. “They just said I had a really bad cold.”
Biden spent the six days leading up to the debate at the Camp David presidential retreat preparing with his top White House aides.
Contact Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.
