(NewsNation) — In President Joe Biden‘s first one-on-one network TV interview following his widely criticized performance at last week’s debate against former President and Republican nominee Donald Trump, the incumbent doubled down on his candidacy and denied any cognitive problems.
The interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos was pretaped to air prime time on the television network at 8:30 p.m. ET. ABC has since released a full transcript of the conversation.
According to ABC, the network offered former president Donald Trump a similar interview opportunity, which he declined.
Biden blames cold for debate performance
Biden said his debate performance was “a bad episode” but gives “no indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and — and a bad night.”
The president was at Camp David for nearly a week in between his D-Day trip to Europe and the debate. Biden claims that period was not enough time to rest “because I was sick. I was feeling terrible.”
“Matter of fac, the docs with me, I asked if they did a COVID test because they’re trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn’t. I just had a really bad cold,” he added.
When asked if he’d rewatched the debate since, the president told Stephanopoulos, “I don’t think I did, no.”
“The whole way I prepared, nobody’s fault, mine. Nobody’s fault but mine. … The fact of the matter is, what I looked at is that he also lied 28 times,” he added, referencing Trump’s performance that night.
“It came to me that I was having a bad night when I realized that even when I was answering a question and they turned [Trump’s] mic off, he was still shouting. And I let it distract me … I realized I just wasn’t in control,” Biden said.
Biden’s health: ‘Still in good shape’
Referencing an article from The New York Times, Stephanopoulos brought up Biden’s “more frequent” and “more pronounced” lapses, asking whether the sitting president is the same man he was when he took office.
“In terms of successes, yes,” Biden responded. Physically, mentally and emotionally, his decades of politics “cost me a really bad night, bad run,” he said.
Biden maintained that he is “still in good shape,” denying any claims of frailty. “I have an ongoing assessment of what I’m doing,” he added. “And [my doctors] don’t hesitate to tell me if something’s wrong.”
In regards to a cognitive exam, Biden said he hadn’t taken one: “No one said I had to. They said I’m good.”
He refused to clarify whether or not he would take a full neurological test and share his results with the American people, telling Stephanopoulos, “I’ve already done it” and to watch how his campaign progresses instead.
Biden confident he can beat Trump, despite polls
Biden claims he has the capacity for another four years, which would put him a 86 years old at the conclusion of a second term: “I wouldn’t be running if I didn’t think I did.”
“Look, I’m running again because I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new level,” Biden added.
Stephanopoulos asked the incumbent if he was being completely honest with himself. Biden assured he is confident on his physical and cognitive abilities.
When it comes to facing his opponent this November, Biden’s confidence remained high: “Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.”
“I remember them telling me the same thing in 2020. I can’t win, the polls show I can’t win. Remember 2020? The red wave was coming … And we won.”
When asked about his low polling numbers following the debate, Biden said: “I don’t buy that.”
The sitting president also said he’d received lots of support following the debate, with prominent Democrats urging him to stay in the race, even as calls for him to step down grow louder.
If Biden were to lose reelection, he told ABC: “I would say I gave it my all. And I did the goodest job I know I can do.”
ABC interview reactions
NewsNation political editor Chris Stirewalt said the Friday night interview was one chance for the incumbent to sway voter and legislator opinion of his competency prior to the November elections – and he didn’t pull it off.
“The real problem for Biden is how he looks and how he sounds. And that doesn’t get fixed. I think Democrats are asking an impossible thing of Joe Biden, which is, you had a bad debate, now we want you to be 20 years younger, we want you to bright eyed and lucid and sharp,” Stirewalt said.
NewsNation contributer and Princeton University professor Lauren Wright joins “Dan Abrams Live” to discuss the interview, assessing that the Biden’s media messaging tells the story of an underdog rather than an incumbent.
“What he needs to do is go in front of reporters and talk for two hours. And he’s not willing to do that,” Wright said. “Anything less than that, and it’s been too long since the debate, I don’t think will do anything to assuage the very serious and fair concerns that voters have.”
A senior House Democrat told NewsNation’s Kellie Meyer that Biden’s interview was stronger than expected, but the debate night damage might already be done.
Joe Khalil, NewsNation Washington D.C. correspondent, said the general consensus from Democratic legislators is that the 22-minute interview did not hurt the president, but it’s only a starting point for rebuilding his partywide support.
Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., told Khalil that Democrats “want to see more” from their president before they’re fully convinced — even though he felt Biden did a good job in the interview.
Debate backlash
During the presidential debate hosted by CNN last week, Biden stumbled through his words and appeared to be confused at times. Although Trump made multiple false statements during the debate, concerns from both inside and outside of the Democratic Party over Biden’s age and mental acuity took center stage.
Ahead of Biden’s interview with Stephanopoulos, Trump took to Truth Social, calling the news anchor and former White House communications director “Liddle’ George, a tiny, angry man” and ABC “one of the worst and most vile Broadcasters in the business.”
Biden, meanwhile, spent the day before the debate celebrating the Fourth of July with Vice President Kamala Harris and members of his family. He made brief, unscripted remarks at a barbecue for active-duty military service members outside the White House. When a supporter yelled at him to “Keep up the fight,” Biden responded, “You got me, man. I’m not going anywhere.”
Hours before the interview aired, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden prepared for it as he does any other.
“We’re expecting millions of Americans will watch,” Jean-Pierre said. “He’ll make a compelling case tonight.”
Debate affects Biden campaign
Three Democratic members of Congress have called for Biden to step down as the party’s nominee for president: Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas and Raúl Grijalva of Arizona.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a top Biden ally, became the first of her party’s governors to ask him to leave the race. In a statement, Healey said, “Over the coming days, I urge him to listen to the American people and carefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump.”
While these are the only Democratic lawmakers to officially urge Biden to drop out of the race, there has reportedly been private angst among other lawmakers, donors and strategists. In addition, postdebate polls have shown Biden losing ground to Trump.
Biden himself has acknowledged that he had a “bad night.”
“The fact of the matter is that I screwed up,” Biden told Milwaukee radio host Earl Ingram. “I made a mistake.”
Biden remains in race
Still, the Biden campaign and White House have pushed back against claims the president isn’t running again.
They recently responded to a New York Times report that stated Biden plans to stop scheduling events after 8 p.m. so that he gets more sleep. According to the New York Times, Biden said at a recent gathering of Democratic governors that he’s staying in the race but needs more rest and “repeatedly” made references to his staff pushing too hard and not listening to his schedule.
“President Bush went to bed at 9, and President Obama made dinner at 6:30. Normal presidents strike a balance, and so does Joe Biden,” spokesperson Kevin Munoz said. “Hardly the same rigor as Donald Trump, who spends half of his day ranting on Truth Social about plans that would cause a recession and other half golfing.”
The Associated Press and NewsNation’s Libbey Dean contributed to this report.