President Biden signaled in an interview Wednesday that he would only reevaluate his decision to run for a second term if a doctor told him he had a health problem.
BET News’ Ed Gordon asked the president, amid continued calls for him to drop out and lingering questions about his age and mental fitness, about whether there is anything that would make him change his mind about staying in the race.
“If I had any medical condition that came up. If doctors came to me and said, ‘You have this problem, that problem,’” Biden responded. “But I made a serious mistake in the whole debate.”
The president also defended his decision not to be a transition president and to run again, arguing that the divided country led him to want to remain in the White House.
“Look, when I originally ran… I said I would be a transitional candidate and I thought I would be able to move on from that and pass it on to someone else,” the incumbent said. “But I didn’t expect things to be so divided, and frankly, I think the only thing is that age brings a little wisdom, and I think I demonstrated that. I know how to do things for the country.”
“There is more to do and I am reluctant to abandon that,” he added.
The president’s age and health have been in the spotlight since his difficult debate last month against former President Trump, during which he struggled to finish his thoughts and spoke in a low, hoarse voice. The debate sparked calls among Democrats to step aside, which continued Wednesday when Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) publicly called on him to drop out of the race.
Biden defended his health and insisted in an ABC interview earlier this month that the debate was not an indication of any serious condition and said he was exhausted from recent foreign travel.
In that interview, he said he might be convinced to drop out “if the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race.’”
The White House also defended Biden’s fitness for office and relied on the results of his February physical exam, during which his doctor said he was active, robust and fit to perform the duties of the presidency.
The White House and Biden’s doctor also had to clarify why a neurologist with expertise in Parkinson’s disease visited the White House several times over the past year and a half after visitor logs were released.
The White House said Biden has not been and is not being treated for Parkinson’s and is not taking medication to treat the disease, but that the president has seen a neurologist three times during his presidency, once during each of his three physical exams since then. . taking possession.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
