Washington.– The president’s new remarks were shown in a clip to promote his first major television interview, which will air at 8 p.m. ET on ABC News, as his debate performance sparked growing calls for him to drop his re-election campaign.
“I felt exhausted, sick and terribly unwell,” he told Stephanopoulos.
In response to a question, Biden said his performance was “his fault and no one else’s,” though he suggested he had been thrown off balance by former President Donald J. Trump’s aggressive falsehoods.
He concluded by saying, “I had a bad night.”
The interview will follow Biden’s animated and defiant but brief speech at a campaign event in Wisconsin on Friday morning, in which he said he would remain in the race and described former President Donald J. Trump as a liar and a danger to democracy.
“I’m going to keep running,” Biden told the crowd, who cheered. “I’m not going to let a 90-minute debate erase three and a half years of work.”
Biden’s appearances on Friday and over the weekend will be crucial for his campaign.
The ABC interview, as well as the speech in Wisconsin, will be closely watched as questions emerge about the Democratic Party’s commitment to Biden’s candidacy.
After last week’s debate, many Democrats urged him to prove to voters he is fit for the job by limiting his reliance on teleprompters, engaging in unscripted conversation during his campaign and agreeing to higher-profile interviews with seasoned journalists.
Before boarding Air Force One in Wisconsin, President Biden approached reporters and said, “You’ve been wrong about everything up to this point, you were wrong in 2020, you were wrong in 2022, and you were wrong when you mentioned the red surge in 2023.”
Biden also said every Democratic governor he met with on Wednesday urged him to keep running.
When asked about a succession plan, he replied: “Of course we have succession plans, but at this point, why do I need one?”
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