President Biden sat with ABC News for an interview Friday in response to a poor debate performance that has left Democrats reeling and looking for a new party leader.
The interview, conducted by George Stephanopoulos, aired on ABC in a half-hour special prime-time broadcast.
Calls for Biden to step aside from the 2024 race have reached a fever pitch after a debate with former President Trump left the political world stunned at his performance in which he struggled to finish sentences, looked at times confused and spoke in a raspy voice that his aides blamed on a cold.
The response from the Biden campaign and the White House has so far been to weather the storm. At a rally in Wisconsin earlier Friday, Biden addressed his critics, declaring: “I’m running and going to win.”
The Stephanopoulos interview was one of the few unscripted, on-camera moments for Biden in the week since the debate fallout.
Biden defends health, insists he’ll beat Trump
In a wide-ranging interview, Biden dodged several questions about his fitness for office, including whether he’d be willing to undergo a medical evaluation that included a cognitive test.
He fielded some of the most direct questions from the media about his health, his mental acuity and whether he would be up to serve as president for another four years after a debate performance that left the political world in shock and his age once again at the center of his campaign.
Biden though stayed firm on his prospects of beating Trump, insisting he would stay in the race despite calls by fellow Democrats to step down.
Axelrod: Biden ‘dangerously out-of-touch’
Democratic strategist David Axelrod warned that Biden is “dangerously out of touch” with voters on the issue of his age and health following Biden’s highly anticipated sit-down interview on ABC News.
“The president is rightfully proud of his record. But he is dangerously out-of-touch with the concerns people have about his capacities moving forward and his standing in this race,” Axelrod wrote in a post on the social platform X. “Years ago at this time, he was 10 points ahead of Trump. Today, he is six points behind.”
Van Jones: Biden interview ‘stops some of the bleeding,’ doesn’t reverse the damage
CNN political commentator Van Jones said that he believed Biden’s ABC News interview “stops some of the bleeding” but acknowledged the damage had already been done after his debate performance.
“Look, I think it will stop some of the bleeding, because this is more the Joe Biden we’re used to. He can be a little bit mumbly and stumbly, but he was clear,” Van Jones said on CNN.
“I think that it will stop some of the bleeding. I don’t think it reverses, though, the damage,” he added.
– Caroline Vakil
ABC offered Trump one-on-one interview
Stephanopoulos said after his interview with Biden aired that ABC News had also offered a one-on-one interview with Trump after the debate, but the network anchor said that the former president declined to take part.
Trump had earlier criticized Stephanopoulos, calling ABC “vile.”
– Caroline Vakil
Biden on Warner: ‘Mark and I have a different perspective’
Biden brushed off earlier reporting from The Washington Post that Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) was gathering Democratic senators to consider calling on the president to withdraw from the race.
“Well, Mark is a good man. We’ve never had that. He also tried to get the nomination, too,” Biden said, inaccurately making a claim about the senator. Warner was floated as a Democratic candidate in 2008, but he chose not to run.
“Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him,” Biden said.
– Caroline Vakil
Biden says key Dems won’t ask him to step down
Biden said Democratic congressional leaders he spoke to told him to stay in the race.
“They all said I should stay in the race,” Biden told Stephanopoulos.
When asked what he would do if they did call on him to get out of the race, Biden said “they’re not going to do that.”
“If the Lord Almighty came down and said ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race. The lord almighty’s not coming down,” the president said.
– Julia Manchester
Biden dodges mental fitness questions
Biden avoided directly addressing his mental and physical fitness when pressed by Stephanopoulos, including rejecting the idea that he take an independent medical exam to determine his fitness for office.
“Do you dispute that there have been more lapses, especially in the last seven months?” Stephanopoulos asked?
“Can I run the 100 in 10 flat? No. But I’m still in good shape,” Biden responded.
“Are you more frail?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“No. Come keep my schedule,” Biden responded chuckling.
– Julia Manchester
Biden avoids answering whether he’d take a cognitive test
President Biden dodged questioning during his ABC News interview over whether he’d take a cognitive test.
“Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test – everything I do,” Biden said when Stephanopoulos asked him if he’d be willing to undergo an independent medical evaluation, including neurological and cognitive tests.
“You know, not only am I campaigning, I’m running the world,” he added. “And that’s not – that sounds like hyperbole, but we are the central nation in the world.”
– Caroline Vakil
Biden blames debate performance on Trump distracting him
Biden blamed his poor debate performance on allowing Trump to distract him during the highly watched event.
“I was having a bad night when I realized that even when I was answering a question, when they turned his mic off, he was still shouting, and I let it distract me,” Biden said, referring to Trump.
“I realized that I just wasn’t in control,” he added.
– Caroline Vakil
Another House Dem calls on Biden to exit race
A fourth House Democrat has called on Biden to exit the race, just minutes before the president’s full interview was set to air on ABC News.
Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) on Friday joined the list of House Democrats urging Biden to withdraw, a group that also includes Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Seth Moulton (D-Mass.).
“I’d say Mr. President, your legacy is set,” Quigley said on MSBC’s “All in with Chris Hayes.” “We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude. The only thing you could do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.”
—Brandon Conradis
Biden takes a shot at NYT polling showing him trailing Trump
Biden in the interview took a shot at The New York Times noting the news outlet had published polling showing him trailing former President Trump.
“The New York Times had me down at 10 points before the debate. Nine now, or whatever the hell it is,” Biden complained while answering a question about whether he knew the debate was going poorly during the event.
Polling from the Times and Siena College have shown the former president trailing Trump in swing states, though the polling has still shown a largely tight race.
“The fact of the matter is that what I looked at is that he also lied 28 times,” the president continued, referring to Trump’s debate performance.
– Caroline Vakil
Biden had COVID-19 test, had no infection
Biden said physicians gave him a COVID-19 test after he returned from traveling abroad because he felt sick but was told he had no infection.
“Because I was sick. I was feeling terrible,” Biden said when asked by Stephanopoulos why his time back from traveling abroad, which included six days at Camp David, wasn’t enough for him to recoup after his travels.
“We were trying to figure out what’s wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn’t,” Biden said, mentioning a “really bad cold.”
The White House earlier on Friday indicated Biden had a “verbal check-in” with his doctor, insisting that he did not receive a check-up or medical exam, raising questions about how the White House is responding to Biden receiving medical attention.
— Caroline Vakil
Biden says Warner is only senator wanting him to drop his bid
Biden said that Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is the only senator wanting him to drop his 2024 bid.
He was asked about reports that Warner is assembling a group of senators to meet and discuss asking Biden to leave the race.
“He’s the only one,” Biden said about Senate Intelligence Committee chair. He added that he’s talking to at least 20 members of Congress about his campaign.
And, the president added that he’s “committing now” to debating Trump again.
— Alex Gangitano
Biden on if he watched his debate performance: ‘I don’t think I did’
Biden suggested he didn’t watch last week’s performance afterward.
“I don’t think I did,” Biden said when asked by Stephanopoulos if he watched the debate after the fact.
— Caroline Vakil
Early clip shows Biden saying debate wasn’t sign of bigger problem
Biden brushed off the idea that his debate performance was a sign of a more serious problem in an interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos.
“It was a bad episode. No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and — and a bad night,” Biden told Stephanopoulos in an early clip of the interview that aired Friday, when asked if his debate was a sign of a more serious condition.
Biden also blamed being sick as part of the reason for his lackluster performance.
— Caroline Vakil
Biden says he’s ‘completely ruling out’ ending his bid
Biden told reporters, “I’m completely ruling that out,” when asked about dropping out of the race.
He had just sat down for the ABC interview and before that, held a rally in Wisconsin, during which he gave an energetic speech declaring that he’s staying in the race.
When asked by reporters why he’s the best candidate to beat former President Trump, Biden said, “I did it before.”
He added, “You’ve been wrong about everything” when reporters pointed out that the last time he beat Trump was four years ago.
— Alex Gangitano
How to watch, what to know
ABC has dubbed its interview with President Biden a “primetime special” airing at 8 p.m. on both the east and west coasts.
A short clip of the interview will be aired at 6:30 ET on “World News Tonight with David Muir.”