South Korean President Joe Biden sought to defuse a political crisis following his faltering performance in Friday’s debate, using an interview on ABC News to reiterate that he had a bad night and telling voters he would continue to fight in the 2024 race despite calls for him to withdraw.
Biden, 81, taped an interview with ABC after telling a crowd in a fiery speech in Madison, Wisconsin, that some Democrats were trying to push him out of the race following his debate against Republican Donald Trump.
Biden cited “a really bad cold” for his shaky debate performance and exhaustion after two trips to Europe.
“I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparation. It was a bad night,” he told George Stephanopoulos in the ABC interview.
The ABC interview was a departure from Biden’s extensive use of a teleprompter for his public remarks and was therefore closely watched.
Biden said he was somewhat distracted by Trump’s remarks when his microphone was cut off during the debate.
“I got distracted. I realized I just wasn’t in control,” he said.
He said he couldn’t race, “but I’m still in good shape.”
Asked if he had undergone a specific cognitive test, Biden said he had not and that “no one said he had to.”
Asked if he would agree to undergo such a test, he replied: “Look, I take a cognitive test every day” as president.
Biden traveled to Wisconsin, a key political swing state, to rally voters and sit down for a television interview that will be closely watched after his debate with Trump prompted some in his party, including major donors, to question whether he can manage a second four-year term.
“We had a little debate last week. I can’t say it was my best performance. But since then, there’s been a lot of speculation. What’s Joe going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? Is he going to drop out?” Biden said. “Well, here’s my answer: I’m running and I’m going to win again.”
The U.S. president, however, has faced a potential new obstacle within the party. Senator Mark Warner, a widely respected moderate Democrat, has invited Democratic senators to a meeting on Monday to discuss Biden’s campaign, a source told Reuters. The Washington Post reported that Warner was seeking to ask the group to pressure Biden to withdraw from the race.
The president later told reporters that he had spoken to at least 20 lawmakers and that they had told him to stay. Asked about Warner’s calls for him to leave, Biden said: “Well, Mark Warner, to my knowledge, is the only one who is considering that possibility.”
At the rally, Biden said he was grateful for the support of his running mate, Kamala Harris, who has emerged as the ideal choice to replace him if he were to step down as the Democratic Party’s standard-bearer. One person at the Madison rally held up a sign behind Biden that read, “Pass the torch, Joe.”
After Biden’s rally, Harris posted a message of support on X, formerly Twitter, saying the president had dedicated his life to fighting for Americans. “In this moment, I know we are all ready to fight for him,” she said.
But Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley called on MSNBC for Biden to step aside and “let somebody else do this” or risk “total catastrophe.”
Biden criticized Trump’s intelligence and called him a liar, directing scathing attacks that were not delivered during his appearance on the Atlanta debate stage. He referenced a comment in which Trump mistakenly said that George Washington’s revolutionary army had taken over British airports in 1776. “He’s a ‘stable genius,’” Biden said.
But he had harsher words for those in his party who have cast doubt on his ability to lead them to victory against Trump in the Nov. 5 election.
“I am the nominee of this party,” Biden said.
“They’re trying to take me out of the race. Well, I’m going to say it as clearly as I can: I’m still in the race! I will beat Donald Trump. I will beat him again in 2020,” Biden said, getting the year wrong. He went on to say, “And by the way, we’re going to do it again in 2024.”
While in Wisconsin, Biden will be interviewed by ABC News, part of a series of events over the next week aimed at showing Americans he still has the staying power to run against Trump in the Nov. 5 election.
Donors, Business Leaders, Allies
A handful of donors and business leaders have made their displeasure with Biden’s candidacy loud and clear, withholding funding or exploring possible Democratic alternatives. Even some of Biden’s closest political allies, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have raised questions about his health.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey issued a statement Friday urging Biden to carefully consider his decision, making her a rare Democratic governor not to issue a statement of support in recent days.
“President Biden saved our democracy in 2020 and has done a remarkable job over the last four years,” she said. “The best path forward right now is a decision the president must make. In the coming days, I urge him to listen to the American people and carefully assess whether he remains our best hope of defeating Donald Trump.”
Some opinion polls have shown Trump widening his lead since the debate, while a Reuters/Ipsos poll found one in three Democrats want Biden to drop out of the race.
A group of business and civic leaders urged Biden to end his reelection bid in a letter to the White House Friday, a day after its CEO said members would still support him if he continued to run, The Washington Post reported.
The White House blamed Biden’s shaky performance on a cold, and Biden himself cited jet lag from his back-to-back trips to Europe.
Former Biden chief of staff Ron Klain, who led the debate preparation process, pushed back against donor complaints. “We are the Democratic Party!” he wrote on X. Donors “cannot decide to impeach a pro-union, pro-people president.”
The Trump campaign and some of its allies have launched a preemptive political attack on Harris, moving quickly to try to discredit her amid talk that she could eventually replace Biden as the Democratic nominee.
The Biden campaign shows no signs of changing course, even as the Trump team has outraised it.
The campaign said it would spend $50 million on a media campaign in July, “including strategic investments around key events that attract broad and politically diverse audiences, such as the 2024 Olympics and the Republican National Convention.”
Trump, 78, who made numerous false claims during the Atlanta debate, falsely claimed in a video posted on social media that he had ousted Biden from the race. He made disparaging comments about Harris in the same video, which Trump’s campaign confirmed.