An ABC News panel downplayed the effect that President Joe Biden tried to make with his first post-debate interview.
Following his interview with the outlet’s host George Stephanopoulos, the panel said Biden’s interview would do nothing to calm the nerves of Democrats weary of his reelection chances.
The president agreed to an interview in an attempt to reassure Americans he could handle another four years in office, arguing that he was “exhausted” and was jet lag after traveling.
However, Stephanopoulos pointed out Biden had 12 days to recover and spent the entire week prior to the debate vacationing at Camp David.
“Look, Biden looked better and certainly more coherent than he looked during the debate, but there's nothing in this interview that is calming the nerves of jittery Democrats who fear that Joe Biden is on a trajectory to lose this race, to lose to Donald Trump," ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl said.
Karl criticized Biden for failing to see that his ailing health is standing in the way of Democrats beating former President Donald Trump.
“In fact, for some of those people, the interview is raising new concerns, particularly the fact that he is unwilling or unaware of the fact that he is in a dire situation here regarding the campaign, that he is losing, in the view of many Democrats and frankly in the polls you cited, that he is losing to Donald Trump," he continued.
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The network’s global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz suggested that one interview is not enough for Biden to persuade voters he can withstand another four years in office. She also suggested that the interview went relatively good, but that the president— who routinely suffers gaffes— has set the bar low.
Meanwhile, ABC News’s congressional correspondent Rachel Scott echoed Raddatz, saying that Biden needs more than a 22-minute interview to put concerns at ease.
She said while the "dam hasn't broken tonight," "the bleeding has not stopped, either."
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