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President Joe Biden said a medical condition would a factor that would cause him to consider dropping out of the 2024 presidential election.
“If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if doctors came to me and said, you got this problem and that problem,” Biden said in an excerpt released Wednesday (July 17) from a BET interview taped on Tuesday (July 16).
The president then claimed that he needs to run again, rather than serve as a "transitional" leader, because the country is currently "so divided."
“I said I was going to be a transitional candidate, and I thought I would be able to move on from this and pass it on to somebody else,” Biden said. “But I didn’t anticipate things getting so, so, so divided. And quite frankly, I think the only thing age brings is a little bit of wisdom.”
The interview followed previous reports of uncertainty regarding the president's re-election campaign as a top campaign official reportedly told at least one megadonor that Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 election is "only a matter of time" privately according to TMZ, as well as multiple Democratic officials publicly calling for him to drop out.
The official reportedly said that focus had shifted from singular support of the president's re-election to "Democrats have to retain The White House" following Biden's disastrous performance in the first presidential debate against former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. Biden, 81, the oldest president in history, appeared opposite Trump on the debate stage for the first time since the 2020 election and did little to quell concerns about his vigor and energy. The president appeared to struggle with his voice, clearing his throat and coughing multiple times, and was often seen open-mouthed and staring when Trump spoke, occasionally struggling to finish sentences.
Biden's performance reportedly led to "panic" among Democrats, according to longtime Democratic operative and CNN senior political commentator David Axelrod.
“He seemed a little disoriented. He did get stronger as the debate went on. But by that time, I think the panic had set in,” Axelrod said, adding that "there are going to be discussions about whether he should continue.”