“I Almost Fell Asleep on Stage” Biden Explains Debate Performance

There’s a lot at stake in the upcoming 2024 elections, especially for Joe Biden after his debate debacle with political rival Donald Trump. The 81-year-old president is under massive scrutiny over his confused demeanor, cognitive abilities, and other issues stemming from his age. However, during a fundraiser in Virginia, the POTUS admitted he “almost slept” at his debate with Trump, citing this reason.

The 46th president of the United States blamed his “international travels” for his absent-mindedness during the debate. “I wasn’t very smart. I decided to travel around the world a couple of times … shortly before the debate,” Biden explained to donors in Virginia. “I didn’t listen to my staff … and then I almost fell asleep on stage.” He clarified, “It’s not an excuse but an explanation,” as per The Hill.

Biden has been under immense pressure to win the elections, and his schedule must have taken a toll on him considering his age. His week was jam-packed before the political debate. He was at Camp David preparing for the face-off after spending the Juneteenth holiday at Rehoboth Beach. Before that, he was jet-setting back-to-back to France to mark the D-Day anniversary and then to Italy for the G7 summit.

According to The New York Times, Democrats acknowledged that Biden’s frequent lapses, missing cues, and mixing facts are worrisome ahead of the 2024 presidential bid. However, they also noted that nearly 23 days before the debate, the POTUS traveled across the Atlantic twice, which drained him enough to affect his performance.

Preparations for the debate included an afternoon nap each day, and rehearsals never started before 11 am, according to a person familiar with the process. A White House spokesperson, Andrew Bates, stated, “The president was working well before [11 am]” after exercising. This information justified his disorientation during the CNN debate with Trump.

Since the debate, there’s growing concern among Americans, but his aides working closely with Biden, including foreign officials, assure he’s not like this all the time. They claimed that the POTUS is in “good shape, alert, coherent, and capable, engaged in complicated and important discussions and managing volatile crises.”

Anonymous White House officials also stated that Biden is in excellent shape, both mentally and physically, and while his debate performance was disappointing, it was an aberration. For instance, Kevin C. O’Connor, the White House physician, noted in February that except for minor ailments like sleep apnea and peripheral neuropathy in his feet, Biden is “fit for the duty.”

More of the president’s aides, such as his domestic policy adviser, Neera Tanden, echoed the “he’s fit” narrative. “He’s inquisitive. Focused. He remembers. He’s sharp.” She insisted that during briefings, “he will ask you a tough question and he will say, ‘How does this relate to an average person?’ And if you haven’t thought of that in that time, you have to come back to him.”