US President Joe Biden acknowledged his performance during last Thursday’s presidential debate was not his best but blamed it on jet lag after two overseas trips earlier in June.
Mr Biden has faced mounting questions about his 2024 re-election bid after last week’s shaky debate performance, with one House of Representatives fellow Democrat publicly calling on him to withdraw from the race.
Speaking at a campaign event in McLean, Virginia, Mr Biden admitted the debate against former President Donald Trump, his Republican rival, did not go well.
“I didn’t have my best night, but the fact is that you know, I wasn’t very smart,” Mr Biden said, speaking at the campaign fundraiser without the aid of a teleprompter. “I decided to travel around the world a couple times, going through around 100 time zones before the debate.
“I didn’t listen to my staff and came back and nearly fell asleep on stage,” he said. “That’s no excuse but it is an explanation.”
Mr Biden travelled to France and Italy during two separate trips in the space of two weeks last month, flying overnight from the Group of Seven summit in Bari, Italy, to appear at a fundraiser with former President Barack Obama in Los Angeles on 15 June before returning to Washington the following day.
He then spent six days at Camp David preparing for the 27 June debate.
White House officials have blamed Mr Biden’s halting performance during the debate on a cold. Mr Biden did not mention being sick during the fundraiser.
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Tuesday showed that one in three Democrats think Mr Biden should end his re-election bid following the debate, but no prominent elected Democrat does any better than Mr Biden in a hypothetical matchup against Mr Trump.
The two-day poll found that both Mr Trump, 78, and President Biden, 81, maintain the support of 40% of registered voters, suggesting that Mr Biden has not lost ground since the debate.
