In his first televised interview since his widely criticized debate performance last week, President Joe Biden took responsibility for the stumbles and argued that he underperformed because he was sick.
“Nobody’s fault but mine,” he told anchor George Stephanopoulos of ABC News in a clip of the interview that’s scheduled to air in full at 8 p.m. ET Friday.
The president reiterated multiple times that the debate was nothing more than “a bad night.”
“It’s a bad episode. No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted,” Biden said. “I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing, and it was a bad night.”
When asked why several days of preparation at Camp David were not enough, Biden responded, “Because I was sick, I was feeling terrible.”
Asked whether he watched a video of the debate, the president said, “I don’t think I did, no.”
The interview comes at a pivotal time in the general election cycle, as some Democrats have called on Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race and as speculation continues about who could replace him as the party’s nominee.
The next week of events for Biden is considered to be “absolutely critical,” two Biden aides and one former official with knowledge of the discussions told NBC News before Friday’s interview.
There is no plan for a “major shift” in strategy, the sources said, beyond what the White House has already telegraphed for the next several days. There may be additional interviews and appearances added to the president’s schedule though, they said.
The president is aware that he needs to perform well in public appearances over the next few days, and that anything short of that could cement public opinion that he should leave the race, according to the sources. Still, Biden appears committed to proving he can be the nominee.
On Friday morning, a senior adviser involved in the process said that an ABC News team would be with Biden throughout the day, observing the president participating in his scheduled trip to Wisconsin for a campaign rally.
During the rally in Madison, Biden continued to reject speculation about bowing out of the 2024 presidential contest.
“Let me say it as clear as I can: I’m staying in the race,” Biden said. “I’ll beat Donald Trump.”
A growing number of Democrats are calling for Biden to drop out.
Shortly before the interview aired, Rep. Mike Quigley became the third Democrat in the House to call for Biden to step aside. Reps. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., and Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, previously called for Biden to not pursue another term.
Quigley said on MSNBC that he would tell Biden that “the only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.”
Some of Biden’s closest allies, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have called on the 81-year-old president to prove that he’s up to taking on a second term in the White House by holding more events and showing him unscripted rather than reading from a teleprompter most of the time.
This week, Biden also did two separate interviews on radio shows, in which he said he had a “bad night” and “screwed up,” but that it “does not erase what I’ve done for three-and-a-half years.”
Concern about Biden’s abilities has spread to his financial backers. CNBC reported this week that Abigail Disney, the granddaughter of Roy Disney, who co-founded The Walt Disney Company, said she would hold off on donations to Democrats unless Biden withdraws from the race.
The White House had said that Biden, whose voice sounded raspy during the debate, had a cold at the time. The president told people at a campaign fundraiser that the debate came after a lengthy overseas trip, though he had returned from that nearly two weeks earlier.
During his meeting with Democratic governors Wednesday night, Biden said he might limit evening events after 8 p.m. so he can get more sleep, two sources familiar with the exchange said.
The Biden campaign defended his remarks, saying presidents need a balanced schedule.
“President Bush went to bed at 9, and President Obama made dinner at 6:30. Normal presidents strike a balance, and so does Joe Biden,” campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz said in a statement. “Hardly the same rigor as Donald Trump who spends half of his day ranting on Truth Social about plans that would cause a recession and other half golfing.”
