President Joe Biden recently gave ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos a confusing response, totaling 107 words, when asked to explain his lackluster debate showing against former President Donald Trump. 

‘Yeah, look,’ Biden said, pausing. ‘The whole way I prepared, nobody’s fault, mine. Nobody’s fault but mine.’ 

He mentioned that he typically prepares for such events by sitting down and going through detailed briefings, but during this specific debate, he got distracted by seeing unfavorable poll numbers from the New York Times. Biden also accused Trump of lying multiple times during the debate.

‘I couldn’t – I mean, the way the debate ran, not – my fault, nobody else’s fault, no one else’s fault,’ he went on. 

ABC News teased the first moments of his pivotal sit-down with Stephanopoulos, which will be aired in full at 8 p.m. 

During the two-minute discussion, Biden attributed his subpar performance to feeling tired and unwell, revealing that this has had a negative impact on his campaign for reelection.

A handful of Democrats have publicly called on Biden to exit the race, while there’s movement in the Senate – led by Virginia Sen. Mark Warner – to have Democrats in the upper chamber make the push as well. 

Biden has remained resistant to these efforts, saying in a fiery speech in Madison earlier Friday: ‘I’m staying in the race.’ 

But in the same stance, he added that he was ready to beat Trump ‘again in 2020.’ 

And then when Stephanopoulos asked the 81-year-old ‘did you ever watch the debate afterwards?’ Biden indicated that he wasn’t sure.  

‘I don’t think I did, no,’ the president replied. 

The Clinton staffer-turned-ABC News anchor then pressed Biden if he knew he was bombing in real time. 

‘Yeah, look,’ Biden said, pausing. ‘The whole way I prepared – nobody’s fault – mine. Nobody’s fault but mine. 

‘I prepared what I usually would do sittin’ down as I did come back with foreign leaders or National Security Council for explicit detail. And I realized – partway through that, you know, all – I get quoted the New York Times had me down, ten points before the debate, nine now, or whatever the hell it is. The fact of the matter is, what I looked at is that he also lied 28 times,’ the president continued. 

‘I couldn’t – I mean, the way the debate ran, not – my fault, nobody else’s fault, no one else’s fault,’ Biden added. 

In the brief clip, he also seemingly said that he had received more medical attention than what press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre initially told the press. 

‘Matter of fact the docs with me. I asked if they did a COVID test because they’re trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn’t. I just had a really bad cold,’ Biden said. 

Jean-Pierre said during briefings this week that Biden hadn’t been checked out by a doctor ahead of the showdown with Trump because he merely had a cold. 

Politico reported that he took several COVID tests during debate prep. 

Overall, Biden characterized the debate as a ‘bad episode.’ 

Stephanopoulos quoted Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi who had asked ‘Is this an episode or is this a condition.’ 

‘No indication of any serious condition,’ Biden said. ‘I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and – and a bad night.’  

Stephanopoulos pointed out how Biden had had days to recover after his international travel ahead of the debate. 

The president spent the Juneteenth holiday at Rehoboth Beach before traveling to Camp David where he was holed away there for a whole week. 

‘Because I was sick,’ Biden explained. ‘I was feeling terrible.’