Biden Admits He Made a Mistake in the Debate

In recent interviews following last week's presidential debate, President Joe Biden admitted to mishandling the event and acknowledged his unsteady performance. "I bungled it," Biden confessed to Earl Ingram on WAUK, a Wisconsin-based radio station. "It wasn't a good debate for me. But it was just a 90-minute session onstage. Look at my achievements in the past 3.5 years," he added.

In attempts to reassure worried Democrats about his leadership capacities, Biden sat for pre-recorded discussions with two radio stations – WAUK and WURD, the latter being the only African-American owned and operated talk radio station in Pennsylvania.

Biden intensified his efforts over the last days, planning to meet with more than 20 Democratic governors, confer with senior congressional leaders, engage with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, and visit the swing states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Even so, the voices among Democrats are increasing, asking him to make a swift decision concerning his campaign's future. At least three of them have suggested Biden should step down.

Representative Seth Moulton from Massachusetts was the third House Democrat to publicly state that Biden should withdraw from the race on Thursday. "President Biden has rendered immense service to our nation, but now it's time for him to emulate founding father George Washington and step aside for new leadership against Donald Trump," Moulton declared on Boston-based radio show WBUR.

Should Biden opt out, Vice President Kamala Harris seems to be a preferred candidate for the Democratic nomination among his party members. On Wednesday, Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, a significant Biden ally, proposed a "mini-primary" before the Democratic convention in case Biden bows out, although his team later clarified that he was responding to a hypothetical question.

In the meeting with governors on Wednesday, Biden reassured them about his health after a recent medical checkup, according to a POLITICO report. Nonetheless, Governors Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico and Janet Mills of Maine expressed concern about his chances of clinching victory in their blue-leaning states, as per two individuals privy to the discussion.

During his Thursday morning interviews on WAUK and WURD, Biden appeared coherent when discussing his political record, Donald Trump, and topics of relevance to Black Americans—a voting group he has struggled to retain. While Biden's talk with Ingram initially intended to span less than 10 minutes, it ended up lasting over double that length. On WURD, Biden engaged with host Andrea Lawful-Sanders for nearly a quarter of an hour.

When asked about American citizens' concerns following his debate performance, Biden had a clear answer, "No." He proceeded to laugh and admit, "Yes, I flopped the debate. However, a 90-minute stage time can't erase my accomplishments over 3.5 years."

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to POLITICO's comment request.

As part of his effort to hit the campaign trail over the holiday weekend, Biden's itinerary includes visits to key battlegrounds like Madison, Wisconsin on Friday and Philadelphia on Sunday, both places where he barely secured victory against Trump in 2020.

Biden's full engagement with Stephanopoulos will now broadcast as a special primetime show at 8 p.m. EST on Friday, with a transcript of the unedited discussion released the same day, as announced by ABC News. Stephanopoulos and Biden are scheduled to meet earlier that Friday in Wisconsin.

Reed Hastings, Netflix co-founder and one of the Democratic Party's major donors, authored a piece in The Economist titled "Why Biden must withdraw," referring to Biden's debated performance and calling it "heartbreaking to see a bewildered older man grappling to remember words and details."

The piece was featured on the cover of the British publication, along with an image of the Presidential Seal on a walker, earlier this week.