In his first major interview since a dismal debate performance that threw his re-election bid into doubt, President Biden dismissed concerns about his health and doubts about his ability to win, saying only “the Lord Almighty” could convince him to step aside.
During the 22-minute interview, which was taped Friday afternoon and aired in prime time on ABC Friday night, ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos repeatedly asked Biden whether he was sane and, more subtly, whether he denied he could win the election.
Biden’s top allies and even, privately, the president himself have acknowledged that he needs to salvage his candidacy in the coming days, and this interview, along with an earlier campaign event in Wisconsin, came with high stakes. His staying power will be watched carefully. Just before the interview aired, Stephanopoulos said it was an unedited interview. “There are no cuts, no edits. We haven’t touched it.”
In the opening minutes of the interview, Biden attributed his debate performance to exhaustion. “I was sick; I felt terrible,” he said, though he suggested that former President Donald J. Trump’s aggressive lies had thrown him off balance. “I just had a bad night,” he said.
But questions about a bad night quickly turned into an exchange, sometimes tense, about Mr. Biden’s age and concerns about his health, which Mr. Stephanopoulos said were widespread and which Mr. Biden dismissed as press nerves.
Near the end of the interview, Mr. Stephanopoulos asked how Mr. Biden would feel in January if Mr. Trump were elected. Mr. Biden said that as long as he “gave it his all” and did a good job, “that’s what it’s all about.” Then he changed his mind. “Look, George,” he said. “Think of it this way. You’ve heard me say this before. I think the United States and the world are at a turning point where what happens in the next few years is going to determine what the next six, seven decades are going to look like.”
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Biden says he has not yet seen a specialist for a neurological exam. Mr. Stephanopoulos asked Mr. Biden if he had had “a full neurological and cognitive evaluation,” and Mr. Biden said he had one “every day” and had “a full physical exam.” Mr. Stephanopoulos went on to ask if a specialist had done a neurological exam. “No,” Mr. Biden said. “Nobody said I had to. They said I’m fine.” Asked if he would be willing to undergo an independent medical evaluation, including neurological and cognitive tests, and release the results to the American people, Mr. Biden said: “Look. I have a cognitive test every day. Every day I have that test. Everything I do. You know, I’m not just campaigning, I’m running the world.”
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A challenging campaign stop and a pledge to stay in the race. Biden spoke earlier on Friday at a campaign event in Madison, Wisconsin, where he made a few jokes about his age, described Trump as a threat to democracy and said he would not step aside — referring to people trying to “push him out.” “I’m staying in this race,” Biden told the crowd, to cheers. “I’m not going to let one 90-minute debate undo three and a half years of work,” he said. His next campaign event is Sunday in Pennsylvania.
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More Democratic defectors: Reps. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Mike Quigley of Illinois became the third and fourth House Democrats to publicly call for Biden to withdraw from the race. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia is in the process of convening other Democratic senators to discuss President Biden’s future, according to five people with direct knowledge of the effort. And Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, has scheduled a virtual meeting with senior House Democrats for Sunday. Separately, major donors are calling for Biden to step aside.
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A word with the media: Before boarding Air Force One in Wisconsin, President Biden addressed the assembled reporters and said, “You’ve been wrong about everything so far, you were wrong about 2020, you were wrong about 2022. We were going to be wiped out — remember the red wave? You were wrong about 2023.” Mr. Biden also said that all the Democratic governors he met with on Wednesday urged him to stay in the race. Asked about a succession plan, he said, “By the way, we do have succession plans. But what do I need a succession plan for?”
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Trump weighs in: Trump has largely remained quiet this week, preferring to keep the spotlight firmly on Biden’s crisis. But he did post a July 4 social media post ridiculing Biden, whom he accused of “choking like a dog during the debate,” and Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he said could replace Biden on the Democratic ticket. Trump’s next scheduled public campaign appearance is a rally in Florida on Tuesday.
