President Joe Biden sat for a 30-minute interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, during which he took responsibility for his failure to land at the debate in Atlanta the previous week, insisted that he had the health and stamina to carry on the campaign and defeat former President Donald Trump a second time, and was skeptical of the polling currently showing him down in the race. He added as well that only God could send him a sign to end his campaign.
Commenters across social media and on all sides of the political spectrum had varied reactions to the interview.
Republican lawmakers, naturally, proclaimed it further evidence of Biden's unfitness to lead. "The Stephanopoulos interview has made one thing clear: Joe Biden is completely unfit to serve as president for the next 6 months, much less the next 4 years. This is exactly what the 25th Amendment was meant for," wrote Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL).
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But some Democrats pushed back, one of the loudest being Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who famously went on to win his race in 2022 after a disastrous debate performance of his own that was hampered by his recovery from a stroke. "Like I just said on @ CNN with @jimsciutto, Democrats need to get a spine or grow a set — one or the other. Joe Biden is our guy," he said.
While few people proclaimed the interview a disaster on par with the presidential debate, some observers were unsure that it really put to rest their doubts about the president.
"Not sure what the purpose of that ABC interview was," wrote former MSNBC commentator Mehdi Hasan. "It didn’t finish off Biden but it didn’t restore faith in him either. A lot of the questions were a waste of time. But, but, the denialism from Biden re the polls and his situation was truly alarming."
Former GOP strategist turned Never Trumper Tim Miller was not at all happy about Biden's remark that if he loses the election he will feel secure "as long as I gave it my all." "No. This is not about giving it your all and doing the goodest job you can do," Miller wrote. "This is about BEATING DONALD TRUMP AND SAVING THE COUNTRY. I’m sorry, but we need more. We need a plan to change course and win."
And other commenters just remarked that the whole setup of the interview had very poor quality. "Why is [sic] the room tone sound so bad on this interview?" asked former GOP strategist and Lincoln Project cofounder Rick Wilson.
