Defiant Biden says 'only the Lord Almighty' could convince him to leave the 2024 race
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In this handout photo provided by ABC, President Biden speaks with George Stephanopoulos on July 5 in Madison, Wis.Handout/Getty Images / Getty Images North America -
President Biden speaks to supporters Friday during a campaign rally in Madison, Wis.Scott Olson / Getty Images -
President Biden's motorcade arrives at a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School in Madison, Wis. on July 5.Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images / AFP
President Biden, in a much anticipated interview Friday with ABC News, attributed his terrible debate performance to "a bad episode" and a "bad night" and defiantly said he would not drop out of the presidential race.
He was working to try to reassure his fellow Democrats, fielding tough questions in a 20-minute interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, which was aired in its entirety.
Biden defended his record, said he was the candidate best placed to defeat former President Donald Trump in November, and declined to take an independent medical evaluation – including a neurological and cognitive test – to show he’s fit to serve another term.
"I have a cognitive test every single day," Biden said. "Not only am I campaigning, but I’m running the world," he said.
Asked whether he would stand down if he could be convinced that you cannot defeat Trump, Biden was defiant: "Well, it depends if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that — I might do that."
Biden was pressed on what went wrong
Biden, 81, said he "was exhausted" during last week's presidential debate against Trump, and added there was "no indication of a serious condition." He had been "feeling terrible" ahead of the debate, but medical tests determined it was just a "really bad cold."
After the debate, Biden said, his doctor looked at him and said: “You're exhausted.”
When asked if he was the same man today as he was when he took office in January 2021, Biden replied: “Yes. I also was guy put together a peace plan for the Middle East. … I was also the guy that expanded NATO.” He said the economy had grown during his administration.
Asked if he had shown signs of decline in the last few months, as reported by several news organizations, Biden replied: “Can I run 110 flat? No. But I'm still in good shape.” He was asked if he was more frail, he simply replied: “No.”
Biden says Democratic leaders are telling him to stay in
On Friday afternoon, Biden told reporters that he had the support of elected Democratic leaders from around the country. Biden said he has talked to at least 20 congressional leaders and all Democratic governors and they have told him to stay in the race.
The Washington Post reported Friday that Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., was working to try to get a group of Democratic senators to ask for Biden to leave the campaign. Responding to that report, Biden said: “Mark Warner, I understand, is the only one considering that.”
In the ABC interview, he said: “Mark is a good man… I have a different perspective.”
But Warner wasn't the only voice. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey urged Biden Friday to evaluate whether he was the party’s best hope to beat Trump. “Healey didn’t say anything when I was in the room,” Biden told reporters, referring to a meeting he had with the nation's Democratic governors this week.
And Democratic leaders in the House have decided to convene a virtual meeting on Sunday with the top Democrats on House Committees, according to a source familiar with the planning who requested anonymity to discuss a private call.
While the interview was appointment viewing by Democratic leaders, it's unclear how widely it will resonate among voters. Polls have long shown that voters have concerns about Biden's age, but whether the debate — let alone the interview — will move the needle is still an open question.
"What I'm hearing from voters on the ground is — well, a lot of them might not even know that this interview is happening on Friday," Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Ga., told NPR.
Transcript
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
President Biden is in Wisconsin for two key events as he fights for his political life. First, a rally in the Democratic stronghold of Madison...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Well, guess what? They're trying to push me out of the race.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: No.
BIDEN: Well, let me say this as clearly as I can - I'm staying in the race.
(CHEERING)
BIDEN: I'll beat Donald Trump.
CHANG: Then, Biden sits down for an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos that's being treated like a televised cognitive test for the 81-year-old president. NPR senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith joins us now with more. Hey, Tam.
CHANG: OK, so ever since last week's debate, Biden has been under growing pressure from Democrats to either prove he has what it takes or to step aside, which makes today really high stakes, right? It's about proving he has the fire to win.
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Yes, exactly. At the rally, he said the debate wasn't his best performance - which is an understatement - and addressed what he described as speculation about what he plans to do, saying he's running. He took on the age question, joking that he looks 40.
CHANG: (Laughter).
KEITH: And then he said that he wasn't too old to create jobs, to pass infrastructure legislation, building to this call and response.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BIDEN: Do you think I'm too old to beat Donald Trump?
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: No.
BIDEN: I can hardly wait. Anyway...
CHANG: It sounds like it was pretty lively in that room.
KEITH: Yeah, it was high-energy, filling a middle-school gymnasium and an overflow room with a crowd who was with him, and it's in a state that he has to win in November. But first, Biden needs to stop the internal bleeding - that is Democrats, big-dollar donors, even members of Congress saying they don't think he can beat former President Trump in November.
And while some high-profile Democrats were there today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, who's running for reelection this year, was not. Some elected Democrats are worried that if Biden stays in and is limping to the finish, he could hurt downballot races as well.
CHANG: Right. Well, let's talk about this ABC interview. Can you just set it up for us? How important is this moment for Biden?
KEITH: Biden hasn't done a lot of one-on-one interviews during his presidency, and none of them have been as high-stakes as this one. After that halting debate performance, even allies of Biden have openly questioned whether he has the cognitive function to keep doing the job of president for another four years. They want him to show that he can perform well without a teleprompter. He leans really heavily on teleprompters, sometimes even using them at fundraisers in people's living rooms.
CHANG: Oh, wow.
KEITH: So the question is, was the debate a one-off? And the interview with Stephanopoulos will air in full on ABC tonight. I asked Democratic Congresswoman Nikema Williams just how big she thinks it is.
NIKEMA WILLIAMS: I think it's really important to a lot of donors, to a lot of elected officials who you've been hearing from in the media. But, I mean, what I'm hearing from voters on the ground is, well, a lot of them might not even know that this interview is happening on Friday.
CHANG: Well, if that's the case, what's Biden going to do next in the face of all this drama?
KEITH: Today, his campaign announced that it plans to spend $50 million airing ads in swing states this month alone. Biden will be campaigning in Pennsylvania on Sunday, and I will be along for that trip. And then next week, the NATO summit is happening in Washington, D.C., and he's going to hold a press conference. And much like the one-on-one interview, wide-ranging press conferences are extremely rare for Biden compared to past presidents. And then, after that, he'll be out campaigning in the West.
All of this is an effort to just keep moving - for Biden to dust himself off and show that the debate was an aberration. But Biden's campaign also acknowledges he is behind. And they have to change that dynamic somehow, or he will lose in November. And well before that, he could lose the support of the party establishment if he isn't able to perform in a way that short-circuits all the freak-outs.
CHANG: Well, it is the end of the week, and former President Trump has largely been out of the news, which is striking. What is his campaign up to right now?
KEITH: Keeping their heads down and enjoying the Democratic chaos - Trump has been remarkably quiet, staying out of the way of Biden's miserable weeklong news cycle. Trump doesn't have another rally scheduled until next week, in Florida. He has been posting on Truth Social, trying to distance himself from something called Project 2025, which is an effort by conservative groups led by the Heritage Foundation to give a second Trump administration a jumpstart in totally reshaping the country in a way that a lot of voters would find alarming. Trump said he knows nothing about it and only likes some of the ideas.
CHANG: That is NPR's Tamara Keith. Thank you so much, Tam.
KEITH: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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