Joe Biden will sit for an exclusive extended interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos. This interview will be the first Biden has conducted since his humiliating performance in Thursday's debate with former president Donald Trump. It will be the first interview Biden has given in 2024. It will only be the 23rd interview Biden has given in his presidency, the last being in November. President Trump has sat for 54 long-form interviews by this time in his presidency. The interview will air in a condensed version on Friday on "World News Tonight" and will run in its entirety on Sunday, when no one is watching, on "This Week."
The purpose of the interview is obvious. After the debate in which Biden did a creditable imitation of a potato, there was a near revolt among Democrat donors and activists and astonishment among Americans watching the debate that the Democrat party would try to foist off on the nation at this perilous time a doddering, semi-sentient geriatric.
BACKGROUND/DEBATE:
The Presidential Debate Results: Joe Biden Falls in the Orchestra Pit
BACKGROUND/PARTY AND PRESS REACTION:
Joe Scarborough Finally Drops the Act, Signals He's Throwing in the Towel on Biden
BACKGROUND/NATIONAL REACTION:
Oddsmakers: Biden's Chances of Winning Reelection Fall off a Cliff After Disastrous Debate Implosion
Joe Biden Did Not Just Sink His Reelection Bid at the Debate; He Took the Press Down With Him
STUNNER: NY Times Editorial Board Calls on Biden to Leave Presidential Race 'to Serve His Country'
(This is just a sampling of the outstanding RedState debate coverage, click to see it all.)
The stakes are high for Biden's campaign; they aren't high for Biden because he isn't cognizant of what is transpiring. If Biden tubes the Stephanopoulos interview, then it will be more of an uphill climb for Biden's candidacy to convince voters that he's making decisions and can be trusted to make decisions. No matter what Biden does, millions fewer people will see the ABC interview than the debate.
It is also high stakes for Stephanopoulos and ABC. CNN and the moderators, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, caught a lot of grief from the left for not "fact checking" Trump or rescuing Biden from himself. Stephanopoulos is undoubtedly aware of this and knows he will be the guy who can make or break Biden's campaign. If Biden is somewhat lucid, the press will portray last Thursday's debacle as a "bad night." But if he stares blankly with his mouth hanging open again, it is all over for him. So, I can't imagine Stephanopoulos going for hard-hitting, news-making questions. The environment will be friendly and non-threatening. Its objective will be to show America a Joe Biden who seems vaguely aware of who he is and what he's doing.
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