President Biden flatly refused four times to take a cognitive test during his first televised interview since his disastrous presidential debate.
Biden, 81, spoke to ABC host George Stephanopoulos on Friday after a handful of Democrats called on him to abandon his re-election bid.
During the highly anticipated interview, Biden refused to undergo an independent medical evaluation that would demonstrate to voters that he is fit to serve another term.
He called his disastrous performance during the debate a “bad episode” and said there was “no indication of a serious condition.”
Biden told Stephanopoulos: ‘I have a cognitive test every day. I have that test every day. Everything I do. I’m not just campaigning, I’m running the world.’
Biden, 81, sat down with ABC host George Stephanopoulos on Friday after a handful of Democrats called on him to abandon his re-election bid
He called his disastrous performance during the debate a “bad episode” and said there was “no evidence of a serious condition”
Biden also added: “No. Nobody told me to do it. Nobody said it. They said I’m good.” At his last physical on February 28, doctors had declared him fit for duty.
Stephanopoulos pressed the president to go further, asking him to take a test and make the results public. Biden dodged this, however, saying, “I’ve already done it.”
He then explained how on any given day he might be talking to a different world leader and engaging in global issues.
The 22-minute interview, which was not cut or edited, was closely watched by Democrats concerned about the president’s ability to serve another four years.
A senior Democratic Party aide told Reuters after watching a short clip that aired before the interview: “I don’t see how he can last the week as the nominee.”
The controversial commander in chief was repeatedly questioned by Stephanopoulos about whether he was realistic in his belief that he could defeat Trump.
Biden said he was the best candidate to take on Trump and that only “the Lord Almighty” could remove him from the race during the vote.
Stephanopoulos asked, “If you have reliable information from your allies, your friends and supporters in the Democratic Party in the House and the Senate that they are afraid that you will lose the House and the Senate if you stay, what will you do?”
“I’m not going to answer that question,” Biden said. “That’s not going to happen.”
Despite his combative words, a group led by Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia will meet Monday to discuss how to pressure Biden to withdraw from the race.
In this handout photo from ABC, U.S. President Joe Biden speaks with ‘This Week’ host George Stephanopoulos on July 5, 2024, in Madison, Wisconsin
A group led by Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, pictured here, will meet Monday to discuss how to pressure Biden to withdraw from the race.
Biden told reporters he had spoken to at least 20 lawmakers and they had asked him to stay.
Asked about Warner’s call to leave, Biden replied: “Well, Mark Warner is, as far as I know, the only one who’s considering that.”
Speaking in Madison earlier on Friday, Biden defiantly told supporters: “I’m staying in the race.
“I’m beating Donald Trump. I’m beating him again in 2020. And by the way, we’re going to do it again in 2024.”
During the interview with Stephanopoulos, the Clinton aide and now host asked him if he had been able to watch the debate afterwards.
Biden indicated he wasn’t sure, saying, “I don’t think so, no.”
He also made a bizarre claim about the invention of a computer chip.
At one point he told Stephanopoulos, ‘We used to have 40 percent of the computer chips.
“We invented the chip, the little chip, the computer chip. It’s in everything from cell phones to guns.”
The interview, combined with a campaign weekend in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, was part of Biden’s effort to turn the tide after his struggling debate performance.
Both Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are key swing states that will determine the outcome of the 2024 race.
In those states and the five other battlegrounds, Trump holds a lead in the polls after their debate in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday, June 27.
On Wednesday, Biden assured campaign staff during a phone call that despite growing calls for him to resign, he is still in the race for the 2024 presidency.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also told reporters at her briefing earlier this week that Biden is not preparing to withdraw from the race.
Jean-Pierre claimed that the president’s poor performance was due to “jet lag” suffered during his two international trips 12 days before the debate.
Despite all the combative talk, Biden described herself as a black woman during a radio interview on Thursday.
Trump holds a lead in the polls after their debate in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday, June 27
He stumbled over his words during the interview with the WURD in Philadelphia on Thursday, in which he apparently mingled with his Vice President Kamala Harris.
He said, ‘By the way, I’m proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, the first black woman… to serve under a black president.
“Proud to be involved with the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. There’s so much we can do because look… we’re the United States of America.”
Biden appears to be referring to Vice President Kamala Harris, but the mistake couldn’t have come at a worse time.
He also called Trump a “former colleague” when he went off script on Thursday and tried to take a dig at the former president.
Since the debate, Biden and his team have conducted extensive damage control, reaching out to party members, staff, lawmakers, donors, allies and voters to convince them that Biden is still a viable candidate who can beat Trump again.
But many within the party are looking for other options, suggesting candidates such as Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
No one can beat Trump in the national and crucial state polls, and all candidates are behind Biden in his chances of beating the former president.