US President Joe Biden has downplayed his poor performance in last week’s debate, offering additional excuses for the showing and adding that it was his fault alone.
The president said in an interview on ABC that he was “sick” and “feeling terrible” before the debate.
Asked whether it was a bad episode or a sign of a more serious condition, Biden dismissed those concerns.
READ MORE: Biden seen by his doctor days after debate, White House says
“It was a bad episode. No indication of any serious condition. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing, and I had a bad night,” he said in an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos.
He added, “Because I was sick, I was feeling terrible. As a matter of fact, the docs with me I asked if they did a COVID test, they were trying to figure out what’s wrong.
“They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn’t. I just had a really bad cold.”
The conversation marked Biden’s first televised interview since his debate performance, a high-stakes moment for his political future as a mounting list of Democrats – lawmakers, donors and voters – express concerns about the viability of his candidacy.
The president said he has not watched a replay of his performance.
When he was asked whether he knew how badly it was going, he said it was “nobody’s fault but mine”.
As he answered the question, Biden offered a confusing tangent on New York Times polling.
“I prepared what I usually would do sitting down as I did come back as foreign leaders or National Security Council – for explicit detail and I realised, about partway through that – you know, all that I get quoted is The New York Times had me down 10 points before the debate, nine now, or whatever the hell it is,” he said.
“The fact of the matter is that – what I looked at is he (Donald Trump) also lied 28 times.”
Pressed on his performance, he said, “Well I was just having a bad night”.
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