President Biden attempted to reassure supporters in his first television interview following the debate but largely avoided answering queries about his qualifications.
He played it down. He refused. He brushed it off.
The goal of President Biden's first TV interview since his dismal debate performance the previous week was to reassure the American people that he still possesses the skills necessary to run for, win, and serve as the country's top official.
However, Mr. Biden, who had more than a trace of hoarseness in his voice, spent the majority of the twenty-two minutes refusing to answer questions from ABC News's George Stephanopoulos regarding his competency, his performance on a cognitive test, and his position in the polls.
The president found it easy to finish his remarks on Friday like he did during the debate. However, he was not the smooth-talking senator of his youth anymore, nor even the same veteran statesman that the party had trusted to unseat former President Donald J. Trump four years prior.
Rather, it was a high-stakes conversation with an 81-year-old president who sounds little like a man who has any qualms about himself, even though his own party is beginning to doubt him.
Here are four things to remember:
This conversation marked the lengthiest unscripted public appearance for Mr. Biden since his shaky debate performance. His supporters on Capitol Hill and elsewhere are perplexed as to why the president has been confined to his office or relying on teleprompters for such a long time in light of the delay.
After the eight-day gap, funders have demanded that the party think about running another candidate, and the first members of Congress have called on him to resign. It also made every word Mr. Biden spoke even more scrutinized.
Throughout, he maintained a defensive stance, claiming that his prior performance ought to be sufficient evidence of his future potential.
The president declared, "It was a bad episode." "No sign of anything seriously wrong."
In addition to being so ill before the debate that his doctors tested him for Covid-19, he attributed his failure to fatigue. However, he refused to consent to any form of neurological testing.
"You see, I take a cognitive exam each and every day. "I have that test every day," Mr. Biden added, implying that holding the president's office entailed tests of its own. He consistently refused to take an exam on his own.
The difficulty facing Mr. Biden is that he cannot resolve all the consequences of a disastrous performance that was witnessed live by tens of millions of Americans in a single interview.
Not as good as the debate was Biden. Will it be sufficient, though?
Early in the interview, when Mr. Stephanopoulos inquired as to what had gone wrong a week earlier, he paused for many seconds.
A few of Mr. Biden's responses lacked coherence and were unconvincing.
It was none of my responsibility that I prepared in this manner. It's all my fault, nobody else's," Mr. Biden finally remarked. "I, well, got ready as I normally did, sat down, and returned with foreign dignitaries or the National Security Council for more specific information. And halfway through it, I realized—you know, I quoted Before the debate, the New York Times had me down 10 points; now, it's down 9 or whatever the hell it is. In actuality, what I found out is that he lied 28 times as well. The way the debate went, I mean, I couldn't because it was neither my fault nor anyone else's.
Even if it was not as horrible as his worst moments at the debate in Atlanta, the response was rambling and circular. However, it was hardly a clear-cut comfort for his party's members who were straining to envision what a potential second debate with Mr. Trump would entail in September.
There were some points made by Mr. Biden in favor of himself and against Mr. Trump.
But other than a quick aside claiming that Mr. Trump was "still shouting" even after turning off his microphone and that he had allowed it to distract him, Mr. Biden had little more to say on the main topic at hand—his debate performance and what it represented about the future.
"I simply had an unpleasant evening" constituted the entirety of Mr. Biden's justification. "I have no idea why."
The interview was only the first test—by no means the last—in this process.
Some of the president's allies have come to terms with the fact that, for the foreseeable future, almost every interview, public appearance, and statement made by Biden will be scrutinized closely by the media.
A post-debate poll by The New York Times and Siena College found that around 75% of people now believe Mr. Biden is too old to be a successful president.
At a fund-raiser two days after the debate, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy dubbed Mr. Biden "America's comeback kid," but Mr. Biden believes in his own story as a man who overcomes hardship.
After months of being written off, Mr. Biden and those close to him continue to harbor resentment over the way he obtained the 2020 presidential nomination.
Citing his detractors, he remarked, "Look, I remember them telling me the same thing in 2020." "I am unable to prevail. According to the polls, I cannot win.
The Democratic Party did, in fact, come together in support of Mr. Biden four years ago when he seemed to be the most qualified opponent of Mr. Trump. However, the current state of polling raises more questions about that crucial issue.
It was evident that Mr. Biden was considering his place in the annals of former presidents. He made this endearing assessment by citing the views of an unidentified group of international policy specialists and economists:
"I would be remembered as a fairly successful president if I quit now."