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President Joe Biden is blaming “a really bad cold” for his poor performance at the first presidential debate opposite Republican challenger Donald Trump, he tells ABC News‘ George Stephanopoulos in his first televised interview following the debate.
“It was a bad episode” and not a sign of something more serious, Biden insists in a clip from the interview, which you can watch above. “I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing. I had a bad night.” When Stephanopoulos presses him on why he didn’t have enough time to prepare, Biden responds: “Because I was sick. I was feeling terrible.” He asked for a COVID test, he says, but the tests all showed no virus or infection: “They just said I had a really bad cold.”
Biden also takes full responsibility for his debate performance — “nobody’s fault but mine” — but notes that Trump “lied 28 times” during the debate. In the end, “I just had a bad night,” he admits.
POTUS was interviewed on the campaign trail Friday by Good Morning America and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos, with a first look airing on World News Tonight with David Muir. The full interview will air Friday as a primetime special at 8/7c on ABC, and then again in its entirety on Sunday’s installment of This Week. A full, unedited transcript of the interview will also be made available on Friday.
The comments echoed the President’s forceful statements earlier on Friday at a Wisconsin campaign stop: “I am running, and am gonna win again… Let me say this as clearly as I can: I’m staying in the race. I will beat Donald Trump.” He added: “I’m not letting one 90-minute debate wipe out three and a half years of work.”
The interview comes amid calls for Biden to forfeit the Democratic nomination following his showing at the June 27 debate. Nearly 70% of all TVLine readers said that Trump trounced Biden.
One day later, Biden addressed his most vocal critics during a rousing speech in North Carolina. “I know I’m not a young man,” he said. “I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t talk as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job, I know how to get things done. And I know what millions of Americans know: When you get knocked down, you get back up.”
On Monday, Biden gave a televised address following a landmark Supreme Court decision that says Trump may claim immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts done during his time in office. He decried the decision and warned about its repercussions on our system of government, calling it “a dangerous precedent, because the power of the office will no longer be constrained by the law.” Biden added that the decision made it “highly, highly unlikely” that Trump will stand trial for election interference before Nov. 5, and that it would be up to the American people to “render a judgment on Donald Trump’s behavior” in the upcoming election.
Press PLAY above to watch Biden’s response, and then leave a comment and let us know what you thought.
Idea for the democrats: switcheroo the ticket. Kamala for president, Biden for VP. Same names on the ticket but with a twist
He’s speaking well. He’s being honest. He’s taking responsibility for what happened. Still with him all the way
The only demented people Are those who blindly support trump and all his BS.
Delusional Judy as always. Seek help!
I have voted Democrat every election since I was 18 and boy am I tired of making excuses for the failures of the Democratic party. What happened to him not running a second term?
He never once said he was only running for a single term, Ivan.
You’re kidding, right?
For real, can we get off this obsession with his debate performance and start focusing our concerns where they actually belong, on the convicted felon who, thanks to a Supreme Courrt that consists of judges that he put on the bench, has recently ruled that the president has total immunity for any crimes they commit while in office? The guy who, let’s remember, was impeached twice and tried to overturn a democratic election? The guy who poses an actual legitimate danger to our country and the world with his violent, threatenng, hateful rhetoric?
Like, seriously, people, if, god forbid, something were to happen to Biden while in office, at least he would have actual competent people to step in. No way can the same be said about Trump. Shut up about the debate and start focusing on how we can ensure Trump never gets another shot at the White House.
*Clarifying that I meant to say the Supreme Court made the ruling about presiidential immunity, not Trump himself. But damn if he’s not going to take full advantage of that if, god forbid, he becomes president again.
Two words for Joe: bye done
This interview is still just a scripted waste of time.. come on.
Jimmy Carter is on his death bed and would probably still be a better candidate at this point.
He’s not running against Jimmy Carter though. He’s running against the incompetent, fascist-leaning, twice-impeached convicted felon that is Donald Trump.
Biden could be comatose and he’d still be a better option than Trump.
The rest of the world is laughing at us! You seriously still support Biden?
Over Trump? 100 percent!
From a french guy ,yes we laughing they tend to say republicains are hypocrite but seeing you re half awake president predending to be ok and democrates pretenting he is that just tell me they re a lot of blind people in you re country i m not judging we got an egomaniac who thinks he is Napoléon in france conclusion the world is messed up
In truth the rest of the world is laughing at you, because your options are a corpse and a felon who lies at every chance he gets and wants to become a dictator, who enjoys stripping away women’s right. How you don’t have any other viable candidate is beyond us all. Get younger people running with an older running mate on both sides.
Trump is the only POTUS to have kept us out of wars in this century! Groceries, food, /renting or owning a home, fuel, vacations, home/auto/health insurance were affordable under Trump! Democrats keep calling Trump the liar…but Biden said in his ABC interview that he put NATO together…he did not! He says that he shut Putin down….no he didn’t! Trump didn’t use the DOJ/FBI to go after his political opponent, but Biden sure did! Biden is a shell of his former self! So if he’s not running the country, who is? Jill and/or Hunter Biden? Now that’s some scary stuff! So there’s a reason why Trump is ahead in the polls…he’s the clear choice for our next president to most Americans!
As a member of ‘the rest of the world’ we are not laughing at people for supporting Biden. Personally, I am incredulous that anyone would think Trump is a better alternative. There is something seriously wrong with that man.
That is because you don’t live in this country and can see what a crap hole it’s turned into under the current rotting corpse.
They’re laughing at us because we have a lying felon wannabe dictator running for president and there are people who will actually vote for him. We have friends in Canada who can’t believe that not only did Trump win once but they’re worried he may win again. Biden has done a great job as president and one debate is not going to stop him.
But I guess you’re all for the pu$$y grabber who thinks his daughter is hot and he’d date her if she wasn’t his daughter. A man who suggested we inject bleach into our bodies to combat COVID?! 🤣 ☠️ 🤣
Ashley Biden says hold my beer!
Ashley is the one Biden showered with right? According to her diary.
I love how this site decides to cover political news only when it senses sensationalism in the works. It was one bad night, he’s fine. Anyway I’d vote for him even if he was in coma. Good lord, democracy’s over if we don’t! The corrupt criminal Supreme Court decided to protect their corrupt criminal of a former president, JUST so they can help him get back into power after he tried to overthrow the government. HE CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO WIN. PERIOD.
I’m a hundred percent a Democrat but this election has me more stressed than ever. I’m a huge Biden fan but I can’t support him after that. It’s sad but that isn’t Biden anymore he has lost his touch. Are they going to claim he has a cold every debate? Or are they just going to reject him going
It’s Biden or the Handmaids Tale hellscape that is Project 2025. It really is that simple.
I voted for Biden in 2020 and I will vote for him in November. Why isn’t the Republican party going after Trump and asking him to step aside? He is a liar, cheater and an adulterer as well as a convicted felon. Trump is trying to challenge the Hush money case by saying he is immune but correct me if I am wrong he wasn’t president at that time. God please dont let this orange fool win!!!
Liar? Biden said that the Border Patrol was endorsing him and in real time they tweeted out that they have never nor would ever support Biden! And please name one politician that’s never told a lie…it would be a miracle!
Please name 1 President other than Trump that is a convicted felon.
You’re not a felon until your sentencing, and that’s looking less and less like it’s not going to happen now! And Martin Luther King, Jr was a felon, and he’s a highly-revered person in our history!
Incorrect. If you’re convicted of a felony crime, that makes you a felon. It has absolutely nothing to do with sentencing. 🙄
Wrong!
What is a Felon?
A felon is a person who has been charged and convicted of a felony offense. This often means that they received a jail or prison sentence for at least one year, and possibly longer.
My dad was a probation officer and he said that once someone who is found guilty they are a felon. Wake up America!!
That’s technically correct. Until the sentencing, the crime is not entered into the books, so to speak. That means, for example, that he has not lost his right to vote yet. Once sentencing occurs, the conviction and sentencing are entered into official records and that is when he would lose such rights as being able to vote, etc. and that is when he would officially become a felon. One reason for this is that at any point up to sentencing, the charges could be dismissed due to an appeal or a decision by judges or prosecuters.
He has had to turn his guns in so I guess that means he can’t shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with it. Plus he has met with his probation officer so I guess he’s well into the system.
I say, stay the course, Joe. There is no knight in shining armor to come save the Democrats if he steps away. Stay with the guy who already beat Trump once. I still think, the White House doctor should have forbidden him from attending the debate.
He needs to admit he can’t do it! Quit lying to himself!! But good ole Jill is in his ear telling him he can!!! But then again Trump will definitely win if he stays in!
Too bad Trump’s sentencing is coming up soon.
George was a horrible interviewer, aggressive, repetitive, while the President had to remind him how much he is doing as President. Took no brain power for George to just turn a question around in 12+ different ways. Trump did not agree to an interview, the liar, con man, felon, sexual assault wizard seems to fly under the radar with George.
So…I suppose my question to those telling Biden to stay the course…have you paid any attention to any of the polls that have come out post-debate? The ones showing Biden not only losing every single swing state, but also three non-swing states? He’s almost losing three additional non-swing states? If you have seen those polls, and you’re actively choosing to disregard them, how am I supposed to have a logical conversation with you about whether or not he should drop out? I’ve heard rumblings of a “blue MAGA” but didn’t think it was true, but if you as a Democrat look at objective facts and choose not to believe them, what else am I supposed to think?
I think it’s about whether to trust the polling 100% at this stage or not. The election’s in November.
My only point is that Biden’s polling numbers continue to get worse and worse. If they got worse, then got better, and back and forth, I get that. His numbers continuously trend downwards. And unfortunately, this interview didn’t really do anything to calm my nerves from his debate performance along with the slew of negative headlines he’s been getting for the past week. Oh, he’s not going to work after 8PM? He’s “at his sharpest” between 10AM and 4PM? He’s had at least 15 serious cognitive decline instances in the past year? These are all stories that have cropped up over the past week.
Replacing your candidate, the incumbent President, 4 months before the election is political suicide. That would just hand the election to Trump on a silver platter.
I agree we should have a better option than Biden, but that is something that should’ve been in motion for a couple of years now, with Biden stepping aside for whomever it would’ve been over a year ago. Much too late now unfortunately.
I don’t believe that at all. If Biden were to step down, there would be a feeding frenzy among the Democratic party to become the nominee (assuming they don’t anoint Harris, who has a slew of problems of her own). I know, I know. You’ll say this will make the overall nominee weaker, but evidence has shown time and again that having the strongest nominee come out of a strong group makes them stronger in the general election. Personally, there are a number of Democratic governors that could chew up and spit out Trump. Gretchen Whitmer, Andy Beshear, J. B. Pritzker, Wes Moore, Josh Shapiro, even Gavin Newsom could all easily beat Trump as far as I’m concerned.
It’s not that simple and there would be a lot of problems (and challenges) getting anyone else on all the ballots. The only way we can beat Trump is to stand behind Biden.
I’m sorry to inform you, but that is 100% a lie perpetuated by the Biden team. We can have an open convention (i.e. the same way that it was done prior to 1974) where the delegates will choose the most qualified candidate. Is it an ideal scenario? No, it isn’t. I’d prefer to have the voters choose the best candidate. And yes, I understand you’ll say they chose Biden, but he has proven that he is not the best candidate with his constant cognitive stumbles.
So an 81 year old who supposedly had a bad cold went to a Waffle House right after a debate and mingled and shook hands with numerous strangers? Yeah right
Sorry Joe,this doesn’t make up for what we all have been seeing the last few years. Age has taken a toll, as it will for everyone. For the good of the country, don’t run in 2024. It is time for Harris to continue the fight.
Hahaha…that’s funny!! How utterly ridiculous! The more he talks, the more he embarrasses himself. Just stop.
Well Trump just challenge him to a new debate… a real one! So he can prove it was just that a bad day….
The rest of the world is not laughing at the USA. All western democracies have problems to some extent. Hopefully there’s a good result and a mending of the divisions among people.
The rest of the world is laughing at the United States. We might have our own problems, but they’re nowhere as big as yours. The USA is meant to be a super power, so when the options are a corpse or a maniac the world laughs, probably to hide our fear!
The debate wasn’t a one-off, it was one more nail in the coffin. I voted for President Biden and will vote for him again if he’s on the ticket in November. But I’ve become really disillusioned with him and with the Democratic party now that they’re acting the same as Republicans by telling us not to trust what we can clearly see with our own eyes. It’s obvious that President Biden has seen a decline over the past four years, certainly physically, but also cognitively. A President should be able to speak extemporaneously, without a prompter or editing — and that’s not a standard either candidate can meet right now. Furthermore I’ve found the images of Biden standing frozen or staring vacantly into the distance quite disturbing. It’s disingenuous to tell us this is much ado about nothing because everyone ages, quite frankly, and nothing seems to age a person near as much as being President. What will he be like after four more years of the toughest job in the world? I’d prefer not to have to see it.
If Trump has partial immunity and it allows him to eliminate a political rival, doesn’t that means all presidents do and Biden could order Trump to be assassinated?
If Trump wins, the Democrats have nobody to blame but themselves. The Biden/Harris ticket should have been one term only to allow the Dems to find a younger, more moderate presidential candidate to take on Trump. Sticking with a presidential candidate who is already in his 80s and showing clear signs of cognitive decline was a poor decision. The Dems have been making poor decisions for far too long and have lost touch with average working-class Americans.
So not telling about a fictional cold was a strategy?
I think we all need 2 move on frm this whole debate crap & focus on who do we want Hitler or gramps……seriously, everyone is going crazy over a premature debate. Like u DNT have bad days….
Trump is the most pro-Israel president we’ve ever had. Funny, I don’t remember Hitler being supportive of Jews…
This man thinks you’re stupid. The man he’s running against thinks you’re stupid. If you vote for either of these options and expect positive change, you have no right to complain.
buying it? I have a bridge for you in Brooklyn. Sweet price.