Biden says only ‘Lord Almighty’ can persuade him to exit presidential race

Says he had "a bad night" and he was "exhausted" and "sick" during his first presidential debate with Trump

Washington: US President Joe Biden has dismissed concerns about his health and doubts about his re-election bid in November, brushing off a poor performance in the presidential debate as a “bad episode” and insisting that only “the Lord almighty” could persuade him to exit the race.

Biden, 81, said this in a television interview, a week after his disastrous debate performance in Atlanta against his Republican rival Donald Trump, following which some of his own Democratic Party leaders started urging him to step down and his approval rating plummeted.

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In the 22-minute high-stakes interview on ABC News aimed at quelling a burgeoning rebellion in the Democratic party, Biden, who is seeking a second term, said he had “a bad night” and he was “exhausted” and “sick” during his first presidential debate with Trump. He asserted that only the “Lord Almighty” could make him drop out of the race to win the November 5 election.

He claimed that he is “running the world” and no one is “more qualified” to be President. Asked whether he would be willing to have an independent cognitive evaluation and release the results to the American people, Biden said: “Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I’ve had tests. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, I’m running the world.”

The President said in the interview that he was “sick” before the debate. Asked whether it was a bad episode or a sign of a more serious condition, Biden dismissed those concerns. “It was a bad episode. No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and — and a bad night,” Biden said during his first interview after the debate, adding that his top party leadership are asking him to stay in the race.

“Because I was sick. I was feeling terrible. Matter of fact the docs (doctors are) with me. I asked if they did a COVID test because they were trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, a virus. I didn’t. I just had a really bad cold,” he said and reiterated multiple times that he was running for the presidency.

Biden said none of the major Democratic party leaders have asked him to drop out and asserted that he would withdraw only if the “Lord Almighty” asked him to. “If the Lord Almighty came down and said ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race. The Lord Almighty’s not coming down,” he added. The President tried to avoid questions on both his mental fitness and cognitive tests.