Biden tells black radio hosts he ‘screwed up’ at first debate

President Joe Biden told two black radio hosts that he regrets and wants to move on from his dismal performance at the first 2024 presidential debate.

Numerous Democratic donors, lawmakers, and voters reacted to the debate by expressing doubts about Biden’s continued viability as a candidate and openly discussed replacing him atop the Democratic ticket with Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), or a host of other, younger Democratic politicians.

Biden sat for both interviews, recorded Wednesday with WMCS in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and WURD in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The discussions aired Thursday morning on Independence Day.

On WURD, host Andrea Lawful-Sanders pressed the president on whether voters should be concerned about Biden’s age and mental faculties, based on his performance last Thursday, to which he responded, “No.”

“I had a bad debate, but 90 minutes onstage does not erase what I’ve done for three and a half years. I led our economy back from the brink. It’s improving and lowered prescription drug costs,” the president said. “I worked with Republicans to expand veterans healthcare, rallied 50 nations to stand against Putin. I’m proud of the record, and we just got to keep moving.”

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Biden similarly described his debate debacle as a “bad night” during his interview with WMCS.

“The fact of the matter is that I screwed up. I made a mistake,” he told host Earl Ingram. “That’s 90 minutes onstage. Look at what I’ve done in 3.5 years.”

Biden is scheduled to campaign in both Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in the coming days, and he spent the bulk of this past week seeking to put out fires within his own party.