Biden dismisses any ousting notion, says he is absolutely fit to ‘beat Trump’
- In Reports
- 12:13 PM, Jul 06, 2024
- Myind Staff
U.S. President Joe Biden once again referred to his debate against Republican opponent Donald Trump as "a bad episode," but remained steadfast in an interview with ABC News on Friday, asserting that he was the candidate to defeat Trump in the November election.
"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, 81, told ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos in a taped interview in Madison, Wisconsin.
"I just had a bad night. I don't know why," Biden added in a hoarse voice, stumbling occasionally over his words.
In the interview, Stephanopoulos gently but repeatedly questioned Biden about the realism of his belief that he could beat Trump, considering the widening polls between the two and growing concern among elected Democrats.
"I don't think anyone is more qualified," Biden told Stephanopoulos in the interview. The polls, he said, were inaccurate.
When asked if he would drop out if fellow Democrats in Congress said he was hurting their re-election chances in November, Biden responded, "If the Lord Almighty comes out and tells me that I might do that."
A senior House of Representatives Democratic aide, who declined to be named, told Reuters after watching a short clip aired before the interview, “I don't see how he (Biden) lasts the week as the nominee.”
"I was feeling terrible," Biden said. "Matter of fact the docs with me. I asked if they did a COVID test because they're trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn't. I just had a really bad cold."
He added that it was no one else's fault but his own and that he hadn't rewatched his debate performance. When asked if he was more frail, Biden responded, "No."
"Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test – everything I do (is a test)," Biden said as he was repeatedly asked about whether he would take a cognitive test.
Earlier on Friday, Biden addressed a crowd in Madison with a fiery speech, stating that some Democrats were attempting to push him out of the race following the debate with Trump. However, during the ABC News interview, he asserted that senior Democrats would not ask him to step aside.
He mentioned that he had spoken for an hour with House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries from New York and even longer with Representative Jim Clyburn from South Carolina.
During the interview, Biden highlighted his record in office, mentioning that he expanded NATO, grew the economy, and has a peace plan for the Middle East. He also discussed his plans to expand healthcare and make changes to the tax system if he won a second term.
Despite these points, the interview, even before it aired in full, seemed to do little to assuage viewers' concerns about Biden's age.
"I've seen enough," Ron Fournier, senior adviser with communications agency Truscott Rossman and former White House correspondent, said on social media platform X alongside the clip. “It hard to imagine this good man beating Trump and serving four more years in the most demanding job on earth.”
Image source: ABC News
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