US President Joe Biden blamed fatigue from international travel for his poor performance in last week’s debate with President Donald Trump.
The 81-year-old president faced calls for him to resign after his raspy, incoherent responses and occasional loss of train of thought.
“The thing is, you know, I wasn’t very smart. I decided to travel around the world a few times before the debate, go through like 100 time zones, didn’t listen to my staff, came back and almost fell asleep on the stage,” Biden said at a fundraiser on Tuesday.
“That’s not an excuse, but it’s an explanation.”
Biden’s recent trips have included separate stops in France for the Normandy landings anniversary and the G7 summit in Italy, as well as stops in California, Washington DC and Camp David.
Harris ‘proud’ to be Biden’s running mate
Biden’s comments came after Vice President Kamala Harris said she was proud to campaign alongside him.
“I’m honored to be Joe Biden’s running mate,” Harris said in an interview with CBS News.
“Joe Biden is our candidate. We beat Trump once and we’re going to beat him again,” Harris added.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also said Biden has no plans to step down after his “bad night” at the debate.
“We really want to take this to the next level,” she said.
zc/jsi (AP, AFP, Reuters)