U.S. President Joe Biden leaves the podium after delivering a speech at the 115th National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) National Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, July 16, 2024.
Kent Nishimura | AFP | Getty Images
President Joe Biden In an interview aired Wednesday, he said he might reconsider his decision to stay in the race. Donald Trump In the event of a medical condition.
BET host Ed Gordon asked Biden in the interview on Tuesday: “What are your hopes personally… of saying, ‘If I saw this, would I reevaluate?'”
“If I had some health condition, if someone, if a doctor came to me and said, ‘You have this problem, you have that problem,'” Biden responded, according to a video clip shared ahead of Wednesday’s broadcast.
Biden, 81, faced mounting pressure from members of his own party to drop out of the race after a disastrous debate with Trump, 78, in late June.
early Wednesday, California Rep. Adam SchiffFavorite to win a coveted U.S. Senate seat in the powerful nation in November, he urged Biden to step down.
The Democratic incumbent’s gruff, stiff appearance in that debate, along with occasionally vague and unfocused answers, sparked panic among his allies about whether he could effectively run for Trump or hold office again. Four years.
The Biden campaign said during the debate that the president had a cold, and he later said he was exhausted after a grueling international trip. He reportedly assured nervous Democrats after the debate that he had been checked by a doctor and was told he was in good health.
White House Physician Kevin O’Connor In February, he described Biden as “a healthy, active, strong 81-year-old man.”
Biden has repeatedly acknowledged his poor performance. “I made a huge mistake throughout the debate,” Biden said in the BET interview.
But he and his campaign have pushed back against calls for him to step down, insisting he is the Democrat best equipped to defeat Trump.
“When I originally ran, you may remember, Ed, I said I was going to be a transition candidate and I thought I could get out of this and pass that on to other people,” Biden told Gordon.
“But I didn’t expect things to become so, so, so divisive,” he said. “Frankly, I think the only thing that comes with age is a little bit of wisdom. And I think I’ve proven that I know how to do good things for the country, despite the fact that (unintelligible) we can’t do that.” Can’t get it done.
“But there’s more to do, and I’m not willing to give up on that,” Biden said.
The full interview will air Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET, which is noon on the third day of the Republican National Convention.
