The Biden team is working overtime to limit President Joe Biden’s first post-debate interview with ABC News to just a few minutes— or about the time it takes for the 81-year-old to start malfunctioning.
In a bid to do damage control and prove Biden is fit enough to serve in office, the president’s team scheduled an “extended” interview with George Stephanopolous.
However, the Biden campaign is now preparing to cut Stephanopolous off after only 15 minutes.
The sit-down interview was arranged earlier this week after Biden’s disaster debate performance against former President Donald Trump went haywire. The interview is meant to downplay concerns over the president’s ailing health and reassure voters he can handle his job.
Senior network figures were involved in calls Wednesday to prepare questions for the shortest time in case attempts to speak with the president for longer failed. One source suggested it would be more in the range of 20 minutes—still a relatively short period of time for even an accomplished interviewer to cover questions both over Biden’s cognitive state and his ability to stay in the campaign. They are likely to be calculating that it is in Biden’s interests to show he is sharp, alert and able to deal with questions and therefore that he will keep the interview going. The length of the interview itself will be closely watched by those wondering about Biden’s state, while its depth and substance will be a critical test for the president. Via the Daily Beast.
A source at the network said they are aware of Biden’s history of drawing out answers and stories, hoping the president will disregard his aide’s request to keep the discussion short and continue talking with Stephanopolous.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed that the interview was an attempt to “turn the page” on Biden’s debate fallout.
A Politico Playbook newsletter said that Biden is preparing for tough questions and to prove that his “90 minutes of unfocused, incoherent responses during his first tête á téte with former President Donald Trump are not the norm or indicative of declining health or cognitive skills.”