Biden’s attempt to save his campaign and presidency was very disheartening at the time

President Joe Bidenfacing a difficult situation in his campaign and presidency, could only move forward on Friday on the waves of controversy that threaten to overwhelm his candidacy.

Biden Didn’t Freeze or Stumble Rhetorically your decisive interview on ABC News, as he did Lastly debate of the week. But he also failed to put on a strong showing to ease the concerns of his supporters or undecided voters or likely calm his critics. Instead, he leaned heavily on an established campaign narrative about how things went so wrong for him.

“There is no indication of any serious condition,” Biden said during the 22-minute speech interview with George Stephanopoulosblaming a “very bad cold” mixed with fatigue of travel abroad 12 days before the debate. “I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparation. It was a bad night.”

Biden was also unclear at times, responding to a question about what he experienced during the debate, starting with an explanation of how he prepared, only to move on to New York Times survey in the race, and then moving on to complaints about former President Donald Trump lying “28 times” on stage before addressing the way the debate was handled, while emphasizing that he wasn’t blaming anyone.

Biden needed a game changer. It wasn’t that. He needed to sound in command of his messages. This was no time for rambling.

‘That’s not going to happen’: Biden didn’t perform as expected

Biden’s political skills are still finely tuned enough to let him avoid a question. Stephanopoulos repeatedly pressed him on whether he would be willing to take an independently administered cognitive test and then release the results.

Biden retreated twicesaying that the role of president is “a cognitive test every day.”

This is not the blunt defense that Biden seemed to think it was. When voters wonder if you’re up to the test after a serious failure, telling them that every day is a test is likely to elicit as much trepidation as relenting.

Biden needs to fix his campaign: Biden is running out of time to fix his campaign. What happens next will decide things.

It takes a lot of confidence and competence to run for and win the presidency. But what if the trust continues to flow after the competence is gone? Stephanopoulos I tried to explore that. This is what he got:

“I don’t think anyone is more qualified to be president or win this race than me,” Biden said.

How confident? Biden was asked whether he would reconsider staying in the race if close allies told him it could cost the Democratic Party control of the House and Senate.

“I’m not going to answer that question,” Biden said. “This will not happen.”

Biden’s campaign needs to be more aggressive

Social media has been abuzz all week with ardent Biden supporters blaming his problems on overactive imagination among the media. That sounded familiar, an echo of the fury Trump fans feel when he faces criticism they don’t want to hear.

Whining like Trump fans will not change the situation for Democrats and will not change the facts of how we got here. Only Biden can get out of the political precipice.

Sure, he seemed in high spirits on Friday afternoon during a speech to an enthusiastic crowd at a high school in Madison, Wisconsin. But he spoke for just 17 minutes with a teleprompter. He insisted that no one would “take me out of the race.”

“I will not allow a 90-minute debate to wipe out three and a half years of work,” Biden said at his afternoon rally, as his campaign announced an “aggressive travel program” to battleground states throughout the rest of July.

A 17-minute speech and 22 minute interview During a week of intense risk, don’t smell aggressive.

Trump intensifies criticism of Biden

Trump and his campaign initially avoided stepping on the news about Biden’s precarious position. A popular tactical phrase often attributed to Napoleon Bonapartesays: “Never interfere with your enemy when he is self-destructing.”

Trump is still horrible: The debate proved that neither Biden nor Trump are good candidates. But one of them is much worse.

But Trump, being Trump, couldn’t stay out of the way. He inaccurately bragged while lounging in a golf cart on Wednesday about forcing Biden out of the race, according to video obtained by The Daily Beat. He also cried that day in his social media site Verdade Social that Stephanopoulos is “the cruelest, cruelest interviewer there is.”

By Friday, Trump was sending fundraising emails proclaiming that “Biden could drop out tomorrow while his campaign issued a memorandum declaring that Biden’s “reset mission” has already been a failure.

Biden has a difficult road ahead until November

Biden’s margin for error here is extremely small. A New York Times/Sienna College Survey this week found Trump ahead of Biden by 49% to 43%, showing a three percentage point swing compared to the former president before and after the debate. The poll found that 79% of respondents think Biden is too old to be president.

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Friday campaign timing and ABC interview could slow down at best calls from Democratic officials for him to resign, perhaps to be replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris. But it may not be.

That’s it the state of the Biden campaign now, always one slip away from a fatal fall. Staying politically alive next week will likely give him another week under close scrutiny. Imagine four straight months of this, because that’s what we’ll have by Election Day if Biden stays in the race.

Biden tries to project the facade of a man who isn’t going anywhere. This could very well become his campaign theme.

Follow USA TODAY election columnist Chris Brennan on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ByChrisBrennan

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This article originally appeared in USA TODAY: Biden’s ABC interview was another critical moment. He failed