United States President Joe Biden has admitted that he “almost fell asleep on stage” and “was not very smart” enough to handle his schedule before the first presidential debate with Donald Trump, blaming his extensive foreign travels for his disastrous performance.
According to PTI report, Biden, 81, seeking a second term in the White House, stumbled in his first televised presidential debate with his predecessor Trump, 78, on Thursday night last week, setting off alarm bells among top Democrats about whether the incumbent president can stay atop in the gruelling months ahead of the elections.
During their roughly 90-minute debate defined by personal attacks, Trump, the presumptive Republican Party candidate in the November 5 presidential election, clashed right from the start with Biden, arguing pointedly about the American economy, foreign relations and migration.
“I wasn’t very smart. I decided to travel around the world a couple of times…shortly before the debate,” Biden said while talking to donors at a fundraiser in a Virginia suburb of Washington DC.
“I didn’t listen to my staff…and then I almost fell asleep on stage,” he said, amidst pressure on Biden to quit the race for the White House due to his advancing age.
Biden admitted that he did not have a good debate, and apologised by saying that he was sorry for the performance.
“It’s not an excuse but an explanation,” he said.
The president’s remarks at the fundraiser lasted just six minutes, which is far shorter than what he speaks on such occasions.
