US President Joe Biden has repeatedly rejected an independent medical examination that would show voters that he is ready for another term in office in a highly anticipated television interview.
He attributed his disastrous performance in the debate to a “bad incident” and said there was “no evidence of a serious condition.”
“Look, I have to take a cognitive test every day,” Biden told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, referring to the tasks he has to complete daily in his demanding job.
“Every day I have to face this test. In everything I do. You know, I’m not just campaigning, I’m running the world.”
Biden, 81, survived the 22-minute interview on Friday without any major blunders that could further damage his ailing candidacy.
But it seemed unlikely that concerns about his age and fitness for the next four years and his ability to defeat Donald Trump in November could be completely dispelled.
On Saturday, another Democratic congressman joined nearly half a dozen in calling for Biden not to run for re-election.
Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota said that given what she saw and heard in the debate and Biden’s “lack of forceful response” afterward, he should step down “and make way for a new generation of leaders.”
Craig won one of the Democrats’ most important suburban victories in the 2018 midterm elections and could be a barometer of the districts that were crucial for Biden in 2020.
As a result of the interview, Biden found himself in a stalemate with a significant faction of his party four months before Election Day and just weeks before the Democratic National Convention.
The drawn-out spectacle could benefit Biden’s efforts to stay in the race by limiting the party’s options to replace him.
However, this could also distract from the important effort to portray the 2024 election as a referendum on Trump.
During the interview, Biden stressed that he is no more frail than he was at the beginning of his presidency.
He said he is “under constant surveillance” by his personal doctors and they “don’t hesitate to tell me” if something is wrong.
“Can I run the 100 in 10 seconds? No. But I’m still in good shape,” Biden said.
As for the debate, “I didn’t listen to my instincts in preparing,” Biden said.
Biden suggested that Trump’s interruptions – from just a few feet away – had thrown him off: “I realized that even when I was answering a question and they turned off his microphone, he was still yelling, and I let that distract me. I don’t blame him. But I realized that I just wasn’t in control.”