Biden’s make or break TV interview with George Stephanopolous could be just 15 minutes long

President Joe Biden’s anticipated interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, initially described as “extended,” could last just 15 minutes, a new report says.

The conversation will be the president’s first interview since his disastrous debate performance against Republican nominee Donald Trump last week, in which a new video has leaked in which the former president ridicules Biden as an “old fool.”

The news that Biden’s interview with the former Clinton aide will likely last 15 minutes was first reported by The Daily Beast. In the same report, a Biden spokesperson described the accusation as “false” and stressed that it would take longer.

On Wednesday, Biden, 81, unexpectedly appeared in a defiant mood during a Zoom call with campaign staff.

“Let me say this as clearly as I can — as simply and directly as I can: I’m running … nobody’s pushing me out. I’m not going away. I’m in this race to the end and we’re going to win,” he said.

ABC previously confirmed that the first segments of the interview will air on World News Tonight at 6 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, and then in full on an hour-long special later that night at 8 p.m. It will air again on Sunday as part of This Week.

Stephanopoulos is an anchor for Good Morning America and This Week. He joined ABC News in 1997 after working in Washington for the Clinton administration.

ABC never commented on the length of the interview in those announcements, but if the network special is an hour long, it’s unclear how the network could fill that with a 15-minute question-and-answer session.

What is clear is that the interview is scheduled to take place during the president’s campaign appearances in Wisconsin. The Daily Beast reports that another source said the interview could last about 20 minutes.

The website adds, citing ABC executives, that there is hope that Biden’s long-winded nature will make the piece longer.

There is a private discussion going on within Biden’s campaign team about what they can do to counter last Thursday’s debate, in which the raspy-voiced president gave a series of convoluted and incomplete answers.

Biden’s lack of public visibility in situations that are not tightly controlled has been evident throughout his presidency.

According to Martha Joynt Kumar, director of the White House Transition Project, he gave just 36 press conferences through June 30, fewer than any president during the same period since Ronald Reagan.

Biden gave a total of 128 interviews, compared to the 369 interviews given by Donald Trump at the same stage of his presidency and the 497 interviews given by Biden’s former boss, she said.

Vice President Kamala Harris was also present on Wednesday’s Zoom call to mobilize the troops.

“We will not back down. We will follow the example of our president. We will fight and we will win.”

The call ended with Biden saying, “There’s no one I’d rather be in this fight with than all of you. So let’s join forces. Let’s get this done. You, me, the vice president. Together.”

In his private conversations, Biden focused on trying to turn the wobbly debate around and the threat he sees former President Donald Trump as posing to the country. He sought feedback on what went wrong in Atlanta last Thursday and took responsibility for his actions.

“We had a direct, open, clear conversation about the debate, his thoughts on what happened and why it wasn’t his best night or his best debate,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., who spoke with Biden on Tuesday, said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Vice President Kamala Harris told campaign officials on Wednesday that she supports Biden

“He wanted advice. He genuinely asked for input and commentary on what he needed to do to rebuild trust and support, and what was the best way forward.”

Coons, the president’s closest ally on Capitol Hill, said Biden clearly understood the urgency, difficulty and importance of the election. The senator advised the president to hold more spontaneous, open events to restore confidence in his candidacy.

Biden met with more than two dozen Democratic governors for more than an hour Wednesday night at the White House, both in person and online. They described the meeting afterward as “candid” but said they remained behind Biden despite concerns about a potential Trump victory in November.

“The president is our nominee. The president is our party leader,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said, adding that Biden “made it very clear during the meeting that he’s doing this to win.”

Despite such reassurances, a major Democratic donor, Netflix founder Reed Hastings, also called on the president to withdraw from the race, saying, “Biden must step aside so a strong Democratic leader can defeat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous.”

The statement was first reported by The New York Times.