{"id":240313,"date":"2024-07-06T03:46:11","date_gmt":"2024-07-06T03:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/06\/joe-biden-says-he-might-exit-race-if-god-tells-him-to\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:15:23","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:15:23","slug":"joe-biden-says-he-might-exit-race-if-god-tells-him-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/06\/joe-biden-says-he-might-exit-race-if-god-tells-him-to\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Biden says he ‘might’ exit race if God tells him to"},"content":{"rendered":"

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With the survival of his candidacy in question,\u00a0Joe Biden<\/a>sat down with ABC\u2019s George Stephanopoulos on Friday for one of the most important interviews of the Democratic president\u2019s decades-long political career.<\/p>\n

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The 22-minute sit-down came a full eight days after Biden\u2019s\u00a0disastrous debate performance<\/a>, in which more than 50 million people watched the 81-year-old struggle to complete sentences or respond to basic questions about his campaign. Far fewer people watched the ABC interview, of course, but the audience included many of the elected officials, donors and political strategists who are actively deciding whether to help rescue \u2014 or end \u2014 Biden\u2019s candidacy in the coming days. Top Biden aides have been pressing elected Democrats not to go public with their concerns.<\/p>\n

The president and his team were hopeful that this first interview would help rally his party and generate momentum for the long road ahead. It\u2019s unclear if he was successful.<\/p>\n

Here are some key takeaways:<\/p>\n

Biden faced a low bar after his debate<\/h4>\n

At this point, every Biden answer, interview and speech will serve as a Rorschach test of sorts to voters, who consistently tell pollsters that they\u2019re worried about his age. And if people were looking for further signs of trouble, they were easy to find.<\/p>\n

Biden performed better than he did on the debate stage. There were also flashes of strength as the president talked up his record, vowed not to leave the race and took shots at\u00a0Donald Trump<\/a>, whom he repeatedly described as a \u201cpathological liar.\u201d Biden also referred to Trump at one point as a \u201ccongenital liar.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he needed to do much more than clear the incredibly low bar he set on national television last week. And the ABC interview had several examples of awkward pauses, garbled words and moments where he meandered.<\/p>\n

In one of the opening answers of the interview, Biden struggled to explain clearly whether he was aware of how bad his debate performance was as it was happening in real time. He jumped from his preparation to polling to Trump\u2019s lies during the debate to not blaming anyone.<\/p>\n

Trump allies seized on another Biden response suggesting he wasn\u2019t sure if he rewatched his debate performance. \u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n

He said only \u2018the Almighty\u2019 could talk him out of running<\/h4>\n

Pressed over and over on whether he would step aside, Biden didn\u2019t offer the slightest hint that he might bow to pressure within his party and leave the presidential race.<\/p>\n

He refused even to entertain the possibility. Actually, he offered only one exception: \u201cIf the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s even as Stephanopoulos presented him with various data points and shared \u201cthe prevailing sentiment\u201d from his conversations with party officials. \u201cThey are worried about you and the country. And they don\u2019t think you can win. They want you to go with grace,\u201d the journalist said.<\/p>\n

Biden pushed back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vast majority are not where those folks are,\u201d he said. \u201cHave you ever seen a time when elected officials running for office aren\u2019t a little worried?\u201d<\/p>\n

He took the blame \u2014 and dismissed questions about his health<\/h4>\n

The bottom line is that Biden does not have a good explanation for his dismal debate performance.<\/p>\n

In the interview, he called it \u201ca bad episode,\u201d but said there was no indication of a \u201cmore serious condition.\u201d Instead, he said he simply had \u201ca really bad cold.\u201d When pressed again, he said, \u201cI just had a bad night.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also didn\u2019t blame anyone but himself, even as whispers have surfaced in recent days about his staff and those who coordinated his preparations.<\/p>\n

Such an answer, of course, may do little to win over those who are deeply concerned about his physical and mental competence. He also refused to agree to undergo any medical testing that might further assuage such concerns.<\/p>\n

Specifically, Stephanopoulos asked whether Biden would agree to an \u201cindependent medical evaluation that included neurological and cognitive tests.\u201d He asked more than once when Biden didn\u2019t answer directly.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test,\u201d Biden said. \u201cEverything I do. Not only am I campaigning, but I\u2019m running the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was not an easy interview<\/h4>\n

If Biden\u2019s aides picked Stephanopoulos for the president\u2019s first major post-debate interview hoping he might go easy on him, they were wrong.<\/p>\n

Stephanopoulos, who worked as an aide to former President Bill Clinton decades ago, peppered the Democratic president with tough questions and blunt truths, albeit with a soft tone.<\/p>\n

When Biden suggested he had recently drawn big crowds, Stephanopoulos retorted: \u201cI don\u2019t think you want to play the crowd game. Donald Trump can draw big crowds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biden appeared flustered at times.<\/p>\n

The president paused for an extra beat when Stephanopoulos asked whether he knew \u201chow badly it was going\u201d during the debate. Later, he paused again when Stephanopoulos asked whether he was acting like Trump by \u201cputting his personal interests ahead of the national interest\u201d by staying in the race.<\/p>\n

In another exchange, Biden asked Stephanopoulos whether polling is accurate as it used to be.<\/p>\n

It was meant to be a rhetorical question. But the interviewer quickly answered.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think so, but I think when you look at all the polling data right now, it shows that he\u2019s certainly ahead in the popular vote, probably even more ahead in the battleground states,\u201d Stephanopoulos said of Trump. \u201cAnd one of the other key factors there is, it shows that in many of the battleground states, the Democrats who are running for Senate and the House are doing better than you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biden didn\u2019t ask many other rhetorical questions.<\/p>\n

One interview won\u2019t fix the damage<\/h4>\n

Even before the interview was over, it was clear it would take much more to win over a party that is suddenly open to Biden alternatives just four months before Election Day.<\/p>\n

At roughly the same time ABC released the first interview clip, Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., became the fourth Democratic member of Congress to call on Biden to leave the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo prevent utter catastrophe,\u201d Quigley said on MSNBC, \u201cstep down and let someone else do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrats are being encouraged by the White House and the president\u2019s campaign not to go public with their concerns about Biden\u2019s viability or electability, according to a Democrat granted anonymity to discuss the matter.<\/p>\n

Another Democrat who watched said they found Biden to be shaky and predicted more will call on him to leave the race.<\/p>\n

Biden, for his part, refused to entertain the possibility that congressional leaders might confront him in the coming days and ask him to step aside. But as Stephanopoulos said repeatedly, that is indeed a very real possibility. Earlier this week, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia reached out to fellow senators to discuss whether to ask Biden to exit the race.<\/p>\n

Biden said Warner \u201cis a good man\u201d but brought up the Virginian\u2019s own previous considerations for a presidential run.<\/p>\n

Asked how he would feel come next January if he ultimately lost the race, Biden\u2019s answer may not inspire confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do, that\u2019s what this is about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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