President Joe Biden’s interview with ABC News host George Stephanopoulos Friday likely did not reassure voters about his cognitive abilities.
Biden could not recall whether he had even watched his June 27 debate performance with Donald Trump afterward.
On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters the Stephanopoulos interview was going to provide a chance for the president to prove the debate was simply a “bad night” and not representative of cognitive decline.
Stephanopoulos asked right up front regarding the debate, “Was this a bad episode or the sign of a more serious condition?”
“It was a bad episode. No indications of a serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing. And a bad night,” Biden said.
Stephanopoulos followed up, wondering why he was so exhausted. Biden had told supporters at a campaign event in Virginia earlier this week that he had not recovered from his travel in Europe earlier in June.
The ABC News host noted that the president had arrived back in Washington 11 days before the debate and then spent the six days right before it secluded at Camp David in northern Maryland.
“Why wasn’t that enough rest time, enough recovery time?” Stephanopoulos wondered.
“Because I was sick,” Biden answered.
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Stephanopoulos then asked Biden, “Did you ever watch the debate afterwards?”
The president paused and looked upward and then responded, “I don’t think I did, no.”
“Did you know how badly it was going?” the ABC host then wanted to know.
Biden gave a somewhat incoherent answer, saying, he prepared for the debate for “explicit detail.”
“And I realized about part way through …” he continued and then didn’t finish his thought, but noted, “The New York Times had me down at 10 points before the debate, nine now, or whatever the hell it is.”
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“The fact of the matter is that what I looked at is he [Trump] also lied 28 times, I mean, the way the debate ran. Not … my fault, no one else’s fault,” Biden said.
Stephanopoulos interjected, “But it seemed like you were having trouble from the first question in, even before he spoke.”
“Well, I just had a bad night,” Biden responded.
On Friday, the president said that he is absolutely committed to debating Trump again.
