Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
US PRESIDENT JOE Biden has dismissed concerns about his age and doubled down on his vow to remain in the country’s presidential election race, saying that only the “Lord Almighty” could convince him to halt his campaign.
His remarks came in an interview with ABC News that was hyped as the most consequential of the 81-year-old’s career amid growing concern among Democratic voters and lawmakers about his fitness to govern.
In the 22-minute one-to-one which aired unedited, Biden defended his poor performance in a debate with Republican candidate Donald Trump last week that triggered calls for him to quit, but acknowledged that he had “a really bad night”.
“I was sick, I was feeling terrible… I just had a really bad cold,” Biden said. “I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing.”
EXCLUSIVE: President Biden tells @GStephanopoulos the debate was “a bad episode,” adding that he was “feeling terrible” after a busy month.
— ABC News (@ABC) July 5, 2024
The full exclusive interview airs at 8/7c on ABC.https://t.co/hlL4FaVp80 pic.twitter.com/unJF13rrQ7
He said that he allowed Trump – who he described as a “pathological liar” to distract him and accused him of lying 28 times throughout the debate.
“I realised that, even when I was answering a question and they turned his mic off, he was still shouting and I let it distract me,” he said. “I’m not blaming it on that. But I realised that I just wasn’t in control.”
Asked if staying in the race might jeopardise Democrats holding on to the White House, Biden said: “I don’t think anybody’s more qualified to be president or win this race than me.”
He denied that he was “more frail” and dodged calls to have doctors assess his mental acuity, saying that the duties of the presidency mean “I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, everything I do.
“Can I run the 100 in 10 flat? No. But I’m still in good shape.”
ABC host George Stephanopoulos repeatedly referenced the growing Democratic clamor for a conversation on picking a new candidate, and asked Biden if he would step down if convinced he couldn’t beat Trump.
“It depends. If the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that,” he said.
EXCLUSIVE: Pres. Biden would not commit to an independent cognitive test when pressed in an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos.https://t.co/hlL4FaVp80 pic.twitter.com/Jg2SepN8bN
— ABC News (@ABC) July 6, 2024
The interview was intended to help Biden weather the storm, but his hoarse voice and meandering answers drew immediate Democratic fire for appearing “out of touch.”
The Trump campaign mockingly posted on social media that “Biden sounds great” as the broadcast went out, before concluding the president “is in denial and in decline.”
Post-debate polls have shown a widening deficit in Trump’s favor, and at least four Democrats in Congress have called on Biden to step aside, as have major newspapers, donors and a raft of Democratic-supporting political commentators.
The Biden campaign has pushed back hard on any suggestion he may withdraw and, just hours before the ABC interview, released an aggressive campaign travel schedule for the rest of July.
Appearing at a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin, the president delivered an energetic stump speech, unequivocally declaring, “I’m staying in the race. I’ll beat Donald Trump.”
US media has reported that Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Mark Warner and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries were both planning crisis talks with lawmakers in the coming days.
David Axelrod, a top aide in Barack Obama’s White House and an occasional thorn in the side of the Biden administration, said the interview showed a president “dangerously out of touch” with concerns over his fitness for office.
“Four years ago at this time, he was 10 points ahead of Trump (in polls). Today, he is six points behind,” Axelrod posted on X.
The White House has announced Biden will visit Pennsylvania this weekend before holding a press conference during the Nato summit in Washington next week.
Contains reporting from © AFP 2024
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Great to see SF and Mary Lou are finished and she is getting the bullet in the coming weeks.
@Trump24: You’re in the wrong country, that’s the USA.
@Trump24: Like when you said 2 weeks ago they wouldnt get near FFG either?
Jesus, enough with FG’s obsession with sinn fein. I don’t like them myself & have never voted for them but enough is enough.
@Matt D: Someone senior in FG needs to take this lad aside & explain that there is a time to bite your tongue, a time to listen, a time to show humility & a time to speak honestly. I am no fan of SF, but surely, he could have let this go by, counting isn’t even completed ! His constant need for making news feeds & media is actually a turn off for people & he needs a little bit of reflection as his own cock ups have cost his colleagues & his party, many seats. Who is advising this lad, I know he has surrounded himself with people from Irish MSM, but Harris & his party & actually SF as well, might be better off getting ordinary people in to advise them, as they can’t seem to connect with ordinary people or how to deliver a message. Get some real life advisors Simon.
Just saying Sinn Fein makes him and Micheal Martin stiff.
It would be satisfying to see FG suffer, given their lies during the recession at a point when the people of Ireland were at their most vulnerable, and persistence with austerity taxes when the country is awash with excess tax take year after year.
Hopefully Gerry parks beside Simon every day in the Dail and smiles at him going in. Will be hilarious!
Looks like the “FFG” line has been overplayed. In so far as that entity exists, it seems on course to be by far the largest party.
@Terry McClatchey: Insofar as it exists, it will be the largest party? A politician wouldn’t put it better
They Don’t Get It…Reign In RTE and the Energy Companies. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
That’s right Harris keep snipping….
Wonder will Martin be dumb enough to say for a second time after an election he wont jump into bed with their partners for life FG or does FF and its leadership actually have the cop on to admit they are the same two cheeks and one wont survive without the other any more
Harris can spin this anyway he wants the knives will still be out for his tea boy backside……his gaff a week ago almost backfired badly, even leaky leo wouldnt have done that
@Patrick Newell: he should get no votes,
Haven’t seen a Fianna Gael surge either and all those massive problems will still be there if independents and parties are willing to sell their souls
Great to see all the Fianna Fail men getting elected, the country could do with real men like Fianna Fail men
@Fintan Pox: What country? FF has and continues to destroy Ireland
@Fintan Pox: your surname is apt
@Fintan Pox: good man the extra strength glue really taking ya to another level of deluded
@Mayo seem to be the football equivalent of Waterfo:
We’ve never had it so good.
@Dave G Doe: how does a party that lost the election become a winner in literally anyone’s eyes ? How? They came third.
During the American election we were saying if Trump was the best that they had to offer they are mad. Now the Irish people have voted Harris AGAIN
This gimp scraped through on the 15th count in 2020. Can anybody who voted him please tell me what he has done in 4 years to deserve this huge vote?. It shows ,once again, how affluent voters truly do not give a damn about the rest of people and the bigger issues this clown and his party have caused. Homelessness,illegal immigration, hospital lists and young adults still living at home due to FFG policies prohibiting them ever buying a house are things that don’ bother his supporters. How stupid people really are.
Ya fine gael and fianna fails vote are 50% down in last 10 years, they had to join up and when the rest of the idiots die off they’ll have a lot less votes thank god. Wel done Ireland ye are clueless
have your say