President Joe Biden blamed his poor performance on his travels around the world ahead of Thursday’s disastrous debate.
The 81-year-old president made the pledge Tuesday night during a fundraiser in the upscale Virginia suburb of McLean, Washington DC.
He told the crowd that he was “not very smart” to “travel around the world a couple of times” before his showdown with the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump.
“I decided to travel around the world a couple of times… shortly before the debate… I didn’t listen to my staff… and then I almost fell asleep on the podium,” the president said.
He added: “It’s not an excuse, it’s an explanation.”
President Joe Biden said at a fundraiser Tuesday night that his poor debate performance was due to his back-to-back European trips that took place more than a week before his Thursday appearance in Atlanta. He was previously photographed at the DC Emergency Operations Center
President Joe Biden endured a disastrous debate against Donald Trump in Atlanta last week, turning the presidential race on its head
Biden spent a full week at Camp David preparing for the debate, after spending the Juneteenth holiday at Rehoboth Beach.
Before that, he traveled to France to commemorate D-Day and then to Italy for the G7.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that Biden was so exhausted from traveling that his advisers shortened his debate preparation by two days so he could also enjoy a day at the beach.
And when we were at the presidential retreat, debate prep didn’t start until 11 a.m., and Biden was given time to nap every afternoon.
The fundraiser was planned after press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was forced to give her own explanation from the White House podium about the president’s poor performance during the debates.
The tense discussions highlight how the issue of a declining president will overshadow the rest of this year’s election, as nervous Democrats begin to openly call for Biden to resign.
“We are not taking anything away from what you all saw or what the American people saw,” said Karine Jean-Pierre.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre was forced to answer questions about whether Biden was disabled or had dementia
“We understand it was a bad night. It’s not uncommon for incumbent politicians to have a bad night during their first debate, and we’re going to continue the work we’ve been doing for the American people.”
Her answers were met with disbelief in the White House press room. She explained that the president was simply nursing a cold and had no intention of stepping aside.
And she kept asking questions, like whether he had taken cold medicine before the debate (no, she said) or whether something more serious was wrong with him.
At one point she was asked if he was “handicapped.”
Another reporter asked, “I think the American people need to be given a yes or no answer to this: Does President Biden, at 81 years old, have Alzheimer’s, some form of dementia or some degenerative disease that causes these kinds of relapses?”
Jean-Pierre replied, “It’s a no. And I hope you ask the other man exactly the same question.”
The problem for the White House and Biden’s campaign is that Trump emerged as the clear winner of the debate.
Biden looked 81 years old, but his answers stalled or descended into bizarre non-sequiturs.
He was unable to refute Trump’s exaggerations and lies and at the end of the 90-minute speech he was helped off the stage by his wife.
Biden spoke Tuesday after receiving an operational briefing on severe weather at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s emergency operations center in Washington, D.C.
The poor performance has dominated headlines ever since, sending Democratic donors into a frenzy that his campaign is headed for disaster.
Questions in the press room about where Biden will be at the end of his second term and about dementia don’t help.
Jean-Pierre did her best to draw a line under the debate. She painted a picture of a busy president who will continue with his work, travel to Wisconsin later in the week, sit down for an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos and hold a solo press conference next week when NATO leaders are in town.
She also confirmed that he held a virtual meeting with Democratic governors, but would not answer questions about whether it was intended to provide reassurances.
“We want to put an end to this situation, and we want to do this for the American people, because we know they need to see him there,” she said.
Whether this will be enough to assuage growing concerns among donors and strategists is another question.
Several people told DailyMail.com they were surprised the president backed down over the weekend instead of immediately pushing back.
On Tuesday, the secret conversations became public as the first elected Democrats publicly called for Biden to withdraw from the race.
Texas Congressman Lloyd Doggett was the first Democratic congressman to call for Biden’s resignation.
“My decision to make these strong concerns public was not taken lightly and in no way diminishes my respect for all that President Biden has accomplished,” he said.
“Recognizing that, unlike Trump, President Biden’s first commitment has always been to our country, not to himself, I hope he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw. I respectfully urge him to do so.”
