In an interview with ABC News on Friday, U.S. President Joe Biden referred to his debate against Donald Trump as “a bad episode,” attributing his shaky performance to poor preparation, exhaustion, and illness.
“I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing, and it was a bad night,” Biden said. “I was feeling terrible. As a matter of fact, the docs with me did a COVID test because they were trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see if I had some infection or virus. I didn’t. I just had a really bad cold.”
Biden emphasized that the responsibility was his alone and admitted he hadn’t rewatched his debate performance.
Biden’s remarks came from a clip of an interview that has drawn significant attention from Democrats concerned about his ability to serve another four years or defeat Republican Trump in the upcoming November election, following his faltering debate performance on June 27.