In his first television interview since his disastrous debate performance with Donald Trump last week, US President Joe Biden said on Friday (5) that the poor performance was just a “bad episode” and that there are “no indications of any serious health condition” that would prevent him from exercising the presidency.
Biden made the remarks in a recorded interview with ABC News, which aired tonight.
Since his poor performance in the debate against Trump on the 27th, Biden has been under pressure from campaign donors, media outlets and fellow Democrats to drop out of the race.
“I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparation and – and [foi] “It was a bad night,” Biden said in the interview, again with a weak voice and without completing some sentences, as in the debate. The president had already used the term “bad night” in an interview with a radio station on Thursday (4).
“Because I was sick, I was feeling terrible. In fact, the doctors [que estavam] “I asked them if they tested me for COVID-19, because they’re trying to figure out what was wrong. They tested me to see if I had an infection, you know, a virus. But no. I just had a really bad cold,” the president said, reiterating an argument his aides made shortly after the debate to justify the Democrat’s poor performance.
Biden also said that the fact that Trump continued speaking even when the Republican’s microphone was turned off bothered him.
“I realized I was having a bad night when I noticed that even when I was answering a question, even when they turned off the microphone [de Trump]he was still yelling. And I let that distract me. I’m not putting any blame on it, but I realized that I just wasn’t in control,” he claimed.
Asked if his memory lapses had been increasing lately, the Democrat was evasive and said he was still “in good shape.”
He also said that he is monitored daily by doctors and that he has not undergone specific cognitive tests and neurological exams because no one told him he “needed” to do them. Biden claimed that his work amounts to “a cognitive test every day” and avoided the question of undergoing an independent medical evaluation: “I already did.”
Finally, he said he would only give up the campaign “if God Almighty comes down and says, ‘Joe, get out of the race.’”
In the afternoon, Biden had held a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where the Democrat also admitted that he performed poorly in last week’s debate, but said he will continue in the presidential race.
“You probably heard we had a little debate last week,” Biden said at the rally.
“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? What’s he going to do?’ Well, here’s my answer: I’m going to keep running and I’m going to win again,” the president said.
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