Biden under fire for appearing unsure whether he has watched his disastrous debate performance
ABC Handout
- President Biden is facing criticism after appearing unsure whether he watched his debate performance back.
- His comments came during an interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on Friday.
- The interview did little to ease concerns about his chances in the November election.
President Joe Biden is coming under fire on social media after appearing unsure whether he watched his disastrous debate performance with Donald Trump back.
During a highly anticipated ABC News interview on Friday, George Stephanopoulos asked Biden: "Did you ever watch the debate afterwards?"
Pausing very briefly, Biden said, "I don't think I did, no."
Biden's response faced immediate backlash on social media.
Referencing the president's answer, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung wrote on X: "How the hell do you not know if you re-watched the debate?
ABC: "Did you watch the debate afterwards?"BIDEN: "I don't think I did."How the hell do you not know if you re-watched the debate?
— Steven Cheung (@TheStevenCheung) July 5, 2024
Brand strategist and HuffPost contributor Diane Mantouvalos noted that it "should have been an anticipated question, to which he could have answered: I've seen clips. Or: Not in its entirety, but enough to understand people's concern."
"If he didn't watch, that in itself is reckless," she added."A conscientious exec would take an hour or two to assess performance. What does he do all day?"
The interview came just a week after Biden's poor debate performance against Trump, in which he fumbled his words, seemed to lose his train of thought, and struggled with a raspy voice.
Democratic donors and supporters of the president viewed the interview as crucial to addressing the mounting concerns about the president's age and mental agility, as well as the increasing calls for him to drop out of the election race.
Biden avoided a repeat of his debate mishaps in this latest interview, using it to restate his commitment to remaining in the race, saying that only the "Lord Almighty" could get him to drop out.
Chalking his debate performance up to "a bad night," Biden also ruled out taking a cognitive test or undergoing an independent medical examination to check if he had any neurological conditions.
When confronted with polling figures that showed Trump with an increasing lead, Biden resorted to flat-out denial, questioning the accuracy of the data and leaning on internal polling that he claimed showed the election was still a "toss-up."
When Stephanopoulos also pointed out his low approval rating, noting that he had "never seen a president of 36% approval get re-elected," Biden again shut it down.
"Well, I don't believe that's my approval rating — that's not what our polls show," the president said.
A spokesperson for the Biden campaign previously told Business Insider that the interview with Stephanopoulos was just one of many moments that show Biden is the right person to run against Trump.
BI has contacted the Biden campaign for further comment.