George Stephanopoulos says ‘I don’t think’ Biden can serve 4 more years after ABC interview
ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos admitted Tuesday that he does not believe President Biden can serve out a second term — days after conducting a closely watched interview with the commander-in-chief following his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump last month.
Stephanopoulos, 63, was recorded in a video obtained by TMZ answering a question from a passer-by in Midtown Manhattan about Biden’s political future.
“Do you think Biden should step down?” the anonymous interrogator asked the “Good Morning America” co-host and “This Week” moderator.
“You’ve talked to him more than anybody else has lately.”
“I don’t think he can serve four more years,” the soft-spoken Stephanopoulos responded after a pause.
“You don’t think he can serve four more years?” the questioner repeated before adding: “All right, that’s an answer.”
Hours later after the video made headlines, Stephanopoulos expressed regret for offering his candid response.
“Earlier today I responded to a question from a passerby. I shouldn’t have,” the news anchor told Puck News in a statement.
And ABC News, in its own statement to the outlet, added: “George expressed his own point of view and not the position of ABC News.”
An estimated 8.5 million Americans watched at least some of Stephanopoulos’ 22-minute post-debate interview with Biden, 81, which aired in full July 5 and was rebroadcast on “This Week” the following Sunday.
During the sitdown, Biden failed to quell concerns about his cognitive fitness for the presidency following the June 27 CNN debate against Trump in Atlanta, claiming he had been “exhausted” and “sick” with a “bad cold” before whining that he let supposed cross-talk by Trump, 78, “distract me” — and even forgetting whether he had watched footage of his meltdown.
Biden also claimed that his frequent errors were a “bad episode” rather than a sign of permanent deterioration, but declined to submit to a cognitive exam to prove that statement.
“Look, I have a cognitive test every single day,” Biden told Stephanopoulos, a former White House communications director in the Clinton administration who has worked for ABC News in various capacities since 1997.
“Every day, I’ve had tests. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, I’m running the world. And that’s not — it sounds like hyperbole, but we are the central nation of the world.”
What to know about the calls for President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race:
- President Biden’s poor performance in the first 2024 presidential debate left some Democrats unsure of his fitness for office and future as the party’s candidate.
- More than a dozen congressional Democrats have joined in calling for Biden’s exit from the race. Former Biden supporter George Clooney echoed these calls in an op-ed published in the New York Times just weeks after he helped lead a record-breaking fundraiser for the Democrat.
- Democratic voters have continued to raise concerns about Biden’s nomination since the debate, with speculations and suggestions for replacement nominees running rampant.
- Biden’s former running mate Barack Obama has reportedly been trying to pressure him to drop out, and had prior knowledge of Clooney’s op-ed. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi allegedly told Biden he could not beat former President Donald Trump this time around.
- As the Democratic National Convention approaches, California delegates for the Democratic Party are reportedly in disarray as debate over the president’s chances of re-election threatens to tear the party apart.
- However, the Biden campaign has denied any plans for Biden to bow out and for Kamala Harris to step in as the Democratic nominee. Sources close to the president believe he might not be willing to drop out, while other sources claim he is “receptive” to giving up on a second term.
Elsewhere in the interview, the president rejected calls to exit the race, saying: “If the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race, but the Lord Almighty’s not coming down.”
In another sound bite that left Democrats particularly aghast, the president indicated that he would be satisfied with a loss to Trump in the Nov. 5 election “as long as I gave it my all and I did as good a job as I know I could do.”
One Democrat close to the White House told The Post at the time that Biden’s performance was “depressing” and said they “felt like I was in an alternative universe.”
On Monday, Biden reiterated that he would remain in the race in a letter to congressional Democrats, a phone-in to MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and a conference call with big-name donors.
So far, seven House Democrats have publicly called on the president to step aside and make way for a new candidate, likely Vice President Kamala Harris.
Reps for ABC News declined to comment.
