President Biden’s TV interview didn’t reverse his problems but instead raised new questions about his mental acuity as he said he wouldn’t take a cognitive test, sidestepped questions about mental lapses and said he he didn’t believe he had a historically low job-approval rating.
In the first interview since his debate disaster, Mr. Biden offered few new insights to save his embattled candidacy that has Democratic lawmakers openly questioning his fitness to campaign or serve another four years.
Mr. Biden, 81, repeatedly chalked up his confused and at times incoherent debate performance as “a bad night” and not a symptom of a serious condition. Mr. Biden simply insisted he was “feeling terrible.”
He doubled down on his claim that his incoherent answers and meandering statements were due to exhaustion and a cold.
ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, a former Clinton White House official, told Mr. Biden that he had never seen a president with a 36% approval rating get reelected.
Mr. Biden’s response was to deny reality.
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“I don’t believe that’s my approval rating,” he said.
The New York Times/Siena poll found Mr. Biden’s job-approval rating was 36% this week.
When asked if he watched a replay of the debate, Mr. Biden was unsure.
“I don’t think I did. No,” he said.
Mr. Biden also sidestepped questions about whether he’s had more mental lapses in recent months.
“Can I run the 100 in 10 flat? No, but I’m still in good shape,” when asked about increased mental lapses.
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Mr. Stephanopoulos asked Mr. Biden if he was “more frail” than he was last year and the president responded, “No”
The president also refused to commit to taking cognitive and neurological exams and releasing them to the public.
“I get a full neurological test every day,” Mr. Biden said, referring to the arduous work of being president.
“Medical doctors from the best of the world travel with me everywhere I go. I have an ongoing assessment of what I’m doing. They don’t hesitate to tell me if they think something is wrong,” Mr. Biden said.
When asked if he’s had a cognitive test, Mr. Biden responded, “No one said I had to. … They said I’m good.”
Doubts immediately emerged that the prime-time interview would be enough to undo the damage to Mr. Biden’s image.
Even before the interview was set to air, Rep. Mike Quigley, Illinois Democrat, became the fourth House Democrat urging Mr. Bdien to bow out of the race. “I’d say, Mr. President, your legacy is set. The only thing you could do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this,” he said on MSNBC
He joined Democratic Reps. Lloyd Dogged of Texas, Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Seth Moulton of Massachusetts in calling for Mr. Biden to drop out of the race.
Mr. Doggett, who was the first House Democrat to publicly call on Mr. Biden to step aside, said nothing he saw in the interview changed his mind about the president’s situation.
“Joe Biden is a good man. He’s an American patriot. Yet the need for him to step aside is more urgent tonight than when I first called for it on Tuesday,” Mr. Doggett said on CNN.
Democratic strategist David Axelrod, who was the architect of President Barack Obama’s reelection victory, said the interview did little to reassure voters.
The president is rightfully proud of his record.
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) July 6, 2024
But he is dangerously out-of-touch with the concerns people have about his capacitiies moving forward and his standing in this race.
Four years ago at this time, he was 10 points ahead of Trump.
Today, he is six points behind.
“The president is rightfully proud of his record. But he is dangerously out-of-touch with the concerns people have about his capacities moving forward and his standing in this race. Four years ago at this time, he was 10 points ahead of Trump. Today, he is six points behind,” Mr. Axelrod wrote on X.
In the interview, Mr. Biden unveiled a new excuse for his frequent errors during the debate, saying former President Donald Trump kept speaking while his microphone was muted. The president claimed Mr. Trump “kept shouting,” even after his microphone was shut off, and that distracted him.
At one point, Mr. Biden gave a rambling answer in which he falsely claimed a poll by The New York Times released after the debate showed he gained support. However, the poll showed he dropped three points against Mr. Trump following the debate.
“I prepared what I usually would do sitting down as I did come back with foreign leaders or National Security Council for explicit detail. And I realized partway through that, you know all — I get quoted — The New York Times had me down 10 points before the debate, nine now, or whatever the hell it is. The fact of the matter is he also lied 28 times. I couldn’t — I mean, the way the debate ran. … Nobody’ else’s fault. No one else’s fault,” he said.
Asked if he’d step down if he became convinced that he would lose to Mr. Trump in November, Mr. Biden remained defiant saying he would only drop out of the face if “the Lord Almighty’ tells him to do so.
“If the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race,” Mr. Biden said. “The Lord Almighty’s not coming down.”
When Mr. Stephanpoulos asked if Mr. Biden would bow out if Democrats told him they would lose the House and Senate if he stayed in the race, Mr. Biden insisted “It’s not going to happen.”
He repeatedly dismissed concerns from top Democrats.
Mr. Biden was asked about a Washington Post report that Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia Democrat, is working to gather a group of Senate Democrats to discuss the future of Mr. Biden’s campaign.
He claimed that Mr. Warner “tried to get the nomination too.”
Mr. Warner was not a presidential candidate in 2020 or 2016. He had reportedly considered a run in 2008 but never launched a campaign.
“Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him,” Mr. Biden said.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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