The President of the United States Joe Biden defended his ‘mental acuity’ in an NBC interview aimed at silencing calls for him to give up his candidacy after the disastrous debate with Trump The 81-year-old leader has asserted his claim in a combative manner good physical and mental shape during the one-on-one with the network’s reporter. “I’m old,” Biden told host Lester Holt in the White House interview.
“But, point one, I’m only three years older than Trump. And, number two, my mental acuity is pretty darn good.” He did, however, concede: “I understand why people say, ‘God, he’s 81. What’s he going to do when he’s 83, 84?’ That’s a legitimate question to ask.” Biden’s interview was the White House’s latest attempt to allay growing fears about his age and mental state.
The meeting was announced last week, before the assassination attempt on Republican nominee Donald Trump inevitably became a central topic of the interview. Biden told Holt he was wrong to call his rival a “target.” “I meant to focus on him, focus on what he’s doing,” he added.
But Biden reiterated what he said was the need to “talk about the threat to democracy” posed by the former president. Asked if Trump’s shooting had changed the trajectory of the election, Biden said, “I don’t know, and neither do you.” He then pressed Holt, asking “why don’t you ever talk about the 18-20 lies that he (Trump) told” during the debate. He assured that he will still participate in the second debate in September.