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   From: abc.liars@disney.com   
      
   President Biden repeatedly refused to reconsider his bid for re-election,   
   time and again dismissing the concerns of those trying to pressure him to   
   quit the 2024 White House race due to lagging poll numbers and concerns   
   about his mental acuity during a high-stakes interview Friday.   
      
   Biden's 22-minute sit-down with ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos was taped   
   earlier in the day but aired unedited. It was the 81-year-old president's   
   first televised sit-down since his debate against former President Trump   
   last week.   
      
   At one point, Stephanopoulos informed Biden he was behind in the popular   
   vote, and the president replied, "I don't buy that." "I don't think anybody   
   is more qualified to be president or win this race than me," Biden said when   
   pressed about a race his opponent appears favored to win.   
      
      
   When asked if he had the mental acuity to be president another four years,   
   Biden said, "I wouldn't be running if I didn't think I did."  Biden also   
   brushed off concerns about his mental fitness for office.   
      
   When asked if he was being "honest" with himself about his own cognitive   
   abilities, the president replied, "Yes, I am, because, George, last thing I   
   want to do is not be able to meet that." But he was also evasive when asked   
   about the possibility of taking a cognitive test and making those results   
   public, something Biden's Republican critics have long demanded.   
      
   "Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have a test.   
   Everything I do," Biden said. "You know, not only am I campaigning, I'm   
   running the world. And that's not — it sounds like hyperbole. But we are the   
   essential nation in the world." When pressed again, Biden said, "I've   
   already done it," though he did not elaborate.   
      
   ABC'S GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS LANDS CRUCIAL INTERVIEW, PUTTING SPOTLIGHT ON   
   HIS PARTISAN PAST   
      
   Biden's allies and critics were expected to be closely watching the   
   interview after last month's CNN debate raised lingering concerns about his   
   viability as a candidate.   
      
   The president delivered a poor performance against his Republican rival,   
   speaking with a hoarse voice he attributed to a cold and also frequently   
   trailing off while speaking, appearing to lose his train of thought.   
      
   On Friday, Biden insisted he had a "bad night" during the debate.  "I think   
   the most charitable thing you can say about it is it's way too little, too   
   late," Democratic strategist Julian Epstein, former chief counsel for   
   Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, told Fox News Digital after the   
   interview aired.   
      
   "The president looks frail. He looks foggy. He looks weak. He looks like he   
   is using every last ounce of energy that he may have to sort of barely get   
   through. "Most Democrats now, whether they're saying it or not, realize   
   that, you know, the Biden campaign is on death watch. And it's a question of   
   whether I think it will be, you know, early next week or after that." Biden   
   said he blamed himself for how the debate went, but he also suggested some   
   fault lies with Trump.   
      
   BIDEN DONORS ‘FREAKED OUT’ BY HIS RELIANCE ON TELEPROMPTERS AT PRIVATE   
   FUNDRAISERS   
      
   "I was having a bad night when I realized that even when I was answering a   
   question, even when they turned his mic off, he was still shouting, and I   
   ... I let it distract me. I'm not blaming it on that. But I realized that I   
   just wasn't in control," the president said.   
      
   He also responded to questions about recent polls that show him behind   
   Trump. "All pollsters I talk to tell me it's a toss-up. And when I'm behind   
   ... there's only one poll I'm really far behind, CBS poll and NBC, I mean,   
   excuse me," Biden said, his last few words barely intelligible.   
      
   Stephanopoulos then said The "New York Times and NBC, both have you about   
   six points behind in the popular vote."  "That's exactly right. New York   
   Times had me behind before anything having to do with this race, had me   
   behind ten points. Ten points they had me behind. Nothing's changed   
   substantially in The New York Times poll," Biden answered.   
      
   Toward the end of the interview, Stephanopoulos asked Biden about the   
   growing number of Democratic lawmakers suggesting he should step aside, and   
   Biden pushed back. "Look, I mean, if the Lord Almighty came out and said,   
   ‘Joe, get out of the race,' I'll get out of the race. The Lord Almighty's   
   not coming down," the president said.   
      
   Former Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod wrote on X after the debate,   
   "The president is rightfully proud of his record.   
   But he is dangerously out-of-touch with the concerns people have about his   
   capacities moving forward and his standing in this race."   
      
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