President Joe Biden gave ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos a 107-word tirade when asked to explain his disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump.
“Yeah, look,” Biden said, pausing. “The whole preparation process was nobody’s fault, it was my fault. Nobody’s fault but mine.”
“I prepared as I normally would, when I go back to meet with foreign leaders or the National Security Council to get explicit details. And I realized, halfway through, that the New York Times had given me ten points before the debate, nine now, or whatever. The fact is, what I saw is that he also lied 28 times,” he said of Trump.
“I couldn’t, I mean, the way the debate went, it wasn’t my fault, it wasn’t anybody else’s fault, it wasn’t anybody else’s fault,” he continued.
ABC News previewed the opening moments of its pivotal interview with Stephanopoulos, which will air in full at 8 p.m.
President Joe Biden gave ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos a 107-word torrent when asked to explain his disastrous performance in a debate against former President Donald Trump
In the two-minute clip, Biden blamed “exhaustion” and being “sick” for his poor debate performance, which has thrown his entire re-election campaign into disarray.
A handful of Democrats have publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race, while there is a movement in the Senate – led by Virginia Sen. Mark Warner – for Democrats in the upper chamber to make the effort as well.
Biden has been resistant to such efforts, saying in an impassioned speech in Madison early Friday: “I’m staying in the race.”
But in the same vein, he added that he was ready to beat Trump “again in 2020.”
And then, when Stephanopoulos asked the 81-year-old if he watched the debate afterward, Biden indicated he wasn’t sure.
“I don’t think he did, no,” the president replied.
The Clinton team member turned ABC News anchor then pressed Biden in real time on whether he knew he was bombing.
“Yeah, look,” Biden said, pausing. “The whole preparation process was nobody’s fault, it was my fault. Nobody’s fault but mine.”
“I prepared what I would normally do, when I would go back to foreign leaders or the National Security Council to get explicit details. And I realized, halfway through, you know, that everyone — I was quoted in the New York Times as having given me ten points before the debate, nine now, or whatever. The fact is, what I looked at is that he also lied 28 times,” the president continued.
“I couldn’t, I mean, the way the debate went, it wasn’t my fault, it wasn’t anybody else’s fault, it wasn’t anybody else’s fault,” Biden added.
In the short clip, he also appears to have said he had received more medical attention than press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre initially told reporters.
“In fact, the doctors were with me. I asked them if they had tested me for COVID because they were trying to figure out what was wrong with me. They tested me to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn’t. I just had a really bad cold,” Biden said.
Jean-Pierre said during briefings this week that Biden had not been examined by a doctor before the showdown with Trump because he simply had a cold.
Politico reported who underwent several COVID tests during preparation for the debate.
Overall, Biden called the debate a “bad episode.”
Stephanopoulos quoted Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi, who asked: “Is this an episode or is this a condition?”
“There was no indication of any serious condition,” Biden said. “I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparation and… I had a bad night.”
Stephanopoulos noted how Biden had had days to recover after his international trip before the debate.
The president spent the Juneteenth holiday in Rehoboth Beach before traveling to Camp David, where he remained in isolation for a full week.
“Because I was sick,” Biden explained. “I felt terrible.”
