President Joe Bidenwho had been at an impasse over a campaign and the presidency could only ride the waves of controversy Friday that threatened to overshadow his candidacy.
Biden didn’t freeze or rhetorically stumble in his defining interview on ABC News, as he did in the June 27 presidential debate. But he also didn’t offer a strong showing to assuage the concerns of his supporters or undecided voters or calm his critics. Instead, he leaned heavily on a set campaign narrative about how things went so terribly wrong for him.
“No indication of any serious condition,” Biden said during the 22-minute interview with George Stephanopoulos, blaming a “really bad cold” mixed with fatigue from traveling overseas 12 days before the debate. “I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparation. And a bad night.”
Biden was also vague at times. Answering a question about what he had experienced during the debate, he first explained how he had prepared, but then he switched to The New York Times polls on the race. He then complained that former President Donald Trump had lied on stage “28 times.” Then he reverted to the way the debate was conducted. He insisted that he had no one else to blame.
Biden needed a game changer. This wasn’t it. He needed to sound like he was in control of his message. This was no time for meandering.
'It's not going to happen': Biden didn't come across as he hoped
Biden’s political skills are still good enough to dodge a question. Stephanopoulos repeatedly pressed him on whether he would be willing to take an independently administered cognitive test and then release the results.
Biden pushed back twice, saying the presidency is “a cognitive test every day.”
That’s not the resounding defense Biden seemed to think he was going to have. When voters are wondering whether they can handle the test after a bad failure, telling them that a test every day is likely to provoke as much anxiety as reassurance.
Biden needs to improve his campaign: Biden is running out of time to improve his campaign. What happens now will be decisive.
It takes a tremendous amount of confidence and competence to run for president and win. But what if the confidence keeps flowing after the competence has dried up? Stephanopoulos set out to find out. Here’s what he got:
“I don't think there's anyone better qualified to be president or to win this race than me,” Biden said.
How sure? Biden was asked whether he would reconsider staying in the race if close allies told him it could cost the Democratic Party control of the House and Senate.
“I’m not going to answer that question,” Biden said. “It’s not going to happen.”
Biden's campaign needs to become more aggressive
All week, social media has been abuzz with ardent Biden supporters blaming his problems on overactive imaginations in the news media. It sounded familiar, an echo of the anger Trump’s fans express when he’s faced criticism they don’t want to hear.
Whining like Trump fans won’t change the situation for Democrats, and it won’t change the facts of how we got here. Only Biden can pull himself back from the political brink.
Sure, he looked excited Friday afternoon as he spoke to a cheering crowd at a Madison, Wisconsin, high school. But he spoke for less than 20 minutes, using a teleprompter. He insisted that no one would “pull him out of the race.”
“I will not let one 90-minute debate undo three and a half years of work,” Biden said at his afternoon rally, as his campaign announced an “aggressive travel schedule” to key states for the rest of July.
A speech of less than 20 minutes and an interview of 22 minutes in a week of high risk do not indicate aggression.
Trump steps up criticism of Biden
Trump and his campaign initially avoided pounce on news of Biden's precarious position. A popular tactical phrase, often attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, goes: “Never engage with your enemy when he is busy destroying himself.”
Trump is still terrible: Debate proved that neither Biden nor Trump is a good candidate. But one of them is much worse.
But Trump, being Trump, couldn’t stay out of the way. He inaccurately bragged while lying in a golf cart about forcing Biden out of the race, according to video obtained and published by The Daily Beast on Wednesday.
He also complained on his social media that Stephanopoulos is “the meanest and most venomous interviewer out there.”
On Friday, Trump sent out emails with fundraising plans in which he announced that “Biden could withdraw tomorrow,” while his campaign released a memo saying Biden’s “reset mission” had already been a failure.
Biden faces a tough road ahead until November
Biden’s margin of error here is vanishingly small. A New York Times/Sienna College Poll this week found Trump ahead of Biden 49% to 43%, marking a 3 percentage point shift toward the former president from before to after the debate.
The poll also found that 74% of voters believe Biden is too old to be president.
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At best, his time on the campaign trail Friday and the ABC News interview could delay calls from Democratic officials for him to resign, perhaps to be replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris. But that may not be the case.
This is where Biden’s campaign stands now, always one misstep away from a fatal fall. Staying politically alive next week will likely earn him another week of intense scrutiny. Imagine four straight months of that between now and Election Day if Biden stays in the race.
Biden is trying to project the facade of a man who is going nowhere, and that could become the theme of his campaign.
Follow USA TODAY election columnist Chris Brennan on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ByChrisBrennan
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden interview with ABC was another pivotal moment. He failed
