Biden's high-stakes interview offers little upside and a ton of risk. But he has no choice.
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- Biden's allies are begging him to get out in public.
- On Friday, he'll sit down for a taped interview debuting during primetime on ABC.
- But even the slightest gaffe could torpedo his campaign.
On Friday night, President Joe Biden will make his highest-profile appearance yet since his disastrous debate last week.
The pre-taped interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos will give the president his best shot yet to steady his wavering campaign as Democrats increasingly question whether he's up to the task of beating Donald Trump.
Biden's supporters have been calling for him to get out into the public eye after he flopped in last Thursday's debate by mumbling his answers, losing his train of thought, and staring off vacantly at times.
Friday's high-stakes interview gives Biden that opportunity — but will also pose a serious threat.
A risky — but needed — move
Friday's interview was originally supposed to air in multiple parts, but ABC announced earlier this week it would air the interview in full on Friday at 8 p.m.
Biden will need a strong performance in order to wipe away the memory of his debate fiasco and reassure voters that he's capable of running a winning campaign.
But the president is facing a political narrative that's highlighted his biggest weakness: voters' concern about his age.
While his opponent Trump is also a historically old candidate at 78 years old, Biden is three years older still. Republicans have seized on his stiff gait, stuttering speech, and verbal gaffes for months as they went on the attack.
Biden's campaign and administration have told voters that concerns about his age were overblown, noting that some videos were deceptively edited to make him look lost.
But Biden's own performance at the debate not only failed to reverse Trump's lead in 2024 swing state polling, but also reinforced the GOP's lines of attack.
Team Biden has since tried to explain away his performance: he was sick, he was jet-lagged, he hasn't been getting enough sleep. Meanwhile, the crisis around his campaign has only intensified.
Since the debate, even some Democrats and Biden allies have anonymously claimed the president has lost a step, forgetting their names and stumbling over his talking points in private. Some donors are bailing on him.
The concerns have sparked an all-out panic among the Democratic Party as it faces the prospect of an electoral loss to Donald Trump — newly emboldened by Supreme Court rulings that could encourage him to expand his presidential power.
Biden must avoid missteps
Biden's campaign is in serious danger. Some Democratic lawmakers are openly calling for him to drop out of the race and hand the nomination to other rising, younger stars in the party.
A strong interview on Friday night without Biden's usual verbal flubs could send a strong message that he's strong enough to continue his reelection run.
Yet small mistakes could be amplified. A stumble in one of his answers will almost certainly be seized on by Biden's opponents and detractors. Republicans have already cut up his debate answers into an attack ad. It's likely any further missteps would be more ammo used against him.
A rock-solid performance by Biden may not be enough to erase the damage caused by last Thursday's debate. At best, it might stem the bleeding; at worst, it could open up fresh wounds. And even if he's perfect on Friday, he's one bad speech or interview away from being right back where he is now.
Biden, for his part, remains defiant. He's chalked up his awful debate to being "one bad night" and has vowed to fight on.
He could prove he's ready for that fight on Friday night.