Topline
President Joe Biden appeared unbothered by his debate performance and said he thought “we did well” while speaking to White House pool reporters at a Waffle House early Friday, despite facing harsh criticism and calls to drop out from the race.
Key Facts
The president and First Lady Jill Biden arrived at an Atlanta area Waffle House after midnight on Friday to order some food and answered a few questions from the press.
When asked if he was concerned about his performance, Biden said “No, it’s hard to debate a liar.”
The president said, “The New York Times pointed out he [Trump] lied 26 times.”
When asked about his voice and if he was sick, Biden said “I have a sore throat.”
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News Peg
Before the Waffle House stop over Biden addressed his supporters in Atlanta at a watch party organized by his campaign. The president, who sounded much more energetic compared to his debate performance said “over the next couple of days they’re going to be fact-checking” everything Trump said at the debate. “I can’t think of one thing he said that was true…I’m not being facetious,” Biden added. Biden told his supporters he was running for them and said: “You are the reason why America is as good as we are, we’re the finest nations in the whole damn world.” Critics of Biden’s debate performance said they were puzzled by the contrast in energy. MSNBC host Rachel Maddow said the speech was a “world away from what you just heard on the debate stage” and added “THAT Joe Biden would have killed in that debate…But the Joe Biden that we saw on the debate stage was about 90% more soft-spoken than that.”
Key Background
Biden’s performance at Thursday night’s debate came under stinging criticism, even from people who strongly oppose Trump, and led to calls for the president to drop out of the race. At the start of the debate, Biden stumbled over his words and trailed off several times. Some of the president’s comments were unintelligible and the sore throat meant Biden had a hoarse voice throughout the debate. The shaky performance is likely to add to the mounting focus on Biden’s age and fan questions about the 81-year-old being fit enough to serve another term.
Further Reading
Pundits Suggest Biden Drop Out After Shaky Debate—But Gavin Newsom Dismisses Running (Forbes)