ABC’s brutal ultimatum to George Stephanopoulos after his damning verdict on Joe Biden – as network plunged into ‘fully-fledged crisis’

George Stephanopoulos was threatened with removal from the broadcast if he did not clarify his position on Joe Biden’s ability to serve another four years.

The ABC host gave his unvarnished opinion on the president’s performance in a brief interview after he was ambushed on Tuesday.

The former adviser to Bill Clinton was asked on a street in Manhattan whether Biden should resign and replied: “I don’t think he can serve another four years.”

Biden’s interview with the former White House spokesman on Friday followed a disastrous debate performance on June 27.

Biden’s televised interview with the former White House spokesman on Friday followed a disastrous debate performance last month

Stephanopoulos, 63, appeared to quickly regret his comment, issuing a statement expressing his regret.

“Today I responded to a question from a passerby. I shouldn’t have done that,” he said.

ABC News issued its own statement saying, “George expressed his own views and not the views of ABC News.”

What the two statements failed to reveal was the crisis that Stephanopoulos’ nine words caused at the highest levels of the major network.

Debra O’Connell, president of the news department, called a panicked meeting of advisers and executives, including PR advisers, on Tuesday night.

“This was a full-fledged crisis and the implications were far-reaching,” one insider claimed. Radar online.

She then dragged Stephanopoulos to a private meeting, where she gave him an ultimatum: he had to apologize or he would be taken off the air.

Stephanopoulos hosts Good Morning America and moderates the current affairs program This Week.

ABC bosses feared the veteran presenter had expressed a personal opinion that would fatally undermine his appearance of objectivity.

‘[O’Connell told him] “He has stated in no uncertain terms that he is a journalist who is expected to be objective,” the insider said.

Stephanopoulos, 63, quickly appeared to regret his comment and issued a statement of regret – but he was reportedly forced to do so

Debra O’Connell, president of the news department, called a frantic meeting Tuesday night with advisers and executives, including public relations consultants

‘She was furious that someone with George’s experience and status would compromise the impartiality of the news department and subject it to unnecessary and embarrassing headlines.

“George has backed Debra into a corner. If he hasn’t apologized, how can he continue to do his job at ABC News without the network facing an avalanche of criticism?”

However, the insider believed ABC bosses knew the damage had already been done, even though Stephanopoulos distanced himself from his comment and “minimised it as a joke”.

“You can expect the Trump campaign and the GOP to play on this. You can also expect the White House to avoid ABC News going forward. Biden will never sit down with Stephanopoulos again,” they said.

Biden’s cognitive function has been under intense scrutiny since his car crash while running for president against Donald Trump last month.

On Friday he tried to limit the damage with an interview with ABC, an appearance that was again criticized by members of his own party.

Biden got through Friday’s 22-minute ABC News interview without any major gaffes, but it seemed unlikely to completely assuage concerns about his age and fitness for the next four years and his ability to defeat Donald Trump in November.

Biden got through the 22-minute interview with ABC News on Friday without any major gaffes.

But it seemed unlikely that would completely allay concerns about his age or his ability to defeat Trump on Nov. 5.

This struggle has led to calls for Biden to withdraw from the race, but so far he has remained steadfast in his pursuit of running.

A senior Democratic adviser told the newspaper: ABC news that the president should “get ready for a wild week.”

Many hoped that Friday’s interview with Stephanopoulos would be a chance for Biden, 81, to prove that the debate was a one-off.

But the cringe-inducing performance, in which he responded to questions in a hoarse voice, lost the thread mid-sentence and wandered off, failed to convince many Democrats.

The president has been confident since the interview that he will remain in the race.

Some leading Democrats are desperately looking for possible alternatives in case Biden drops out of the race.