In his first television interview following the CNN debate with Donald Trump, President Joe Biden spoke candidly about his performance, calling it a “bad episode” and taking full responsibility for what happened.
ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos interviewed Biden in Madison, Wisconsin, after a rally with Democratic supporters, where Biden reiterated his commitment to stay in the race.
Stephanopoulos didn’t waste time at the debate, acknowledging what Biden’s team described as a “bad night.” Biden agreed, directly acknowledging, “Sure.”
The conversation then turned to comments from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who asked if the debate was a sign of a more serious underlying issue. “It was a bad episode,” Biden explained. “There was no sign of anything serious. I was tired. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparation and — and had a bad night.”
Regarding his preparations for the debate, which took place after his international trip to France for the D-Day anniversary and subsequent rest at Camp David, the anchor asked why there wasn’t enough time to recover. “Because I was sick. I felt terrible,” Biden explained. He revealed that medical tests ruled out COVID-19 but confirmed he was battling a severe cold.
The anchor asked if Biden had watched the post-debate footage. “I don’t think I did, no,” Biden admitted.
When asked if he realized while he was on stage how poorly it was going, Biden said, “Yeah, look. The way that I prepared was nobody’s fault but mine. It was nobody else’s fault but mine.”
He reflected on his preparation style and how he inappropriately adapted it for the debate, saying, “I did the same preparation that I usually do when I sit down because I come back to foreign leaders or the National Security Council for explicit details. And I realized – in the middle of, you know, all – I was quoted that the New York Times had me ten points down before the debate, now it’s nine, or whatever. The fact of the matter is, what I saw is that he lied 28 times. I couldn’t – I mean, the way the debate went was not my fault, not anybody else’s fault, not anybody else’s fault.”
“But it seemed like you were having trouble from the very first question, even before he spoke?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“Well, I had a bad night,” Biden said.
