President Joe Biden wholly dismissed concerns of his waning stamina and reports that he has acknowledged his own limitations — one being that he must end his days earlier — denying those reports and asserting that he simply needs to pace himself.
A reporter noted that the presidency is the “most straining job in the world” — a 24/7 job — during Thursday’s press conference.
“How can you say you’ll be up for that next year, in two years, in four years, given the limits you’ve acknowledged that you have today?” the reporter asked the 81-year-old.
Biden looked confused, questioning which limits he has acknowledged. The reporter responded by noting reports that Biden needs to go to bed earlier, ending his day around eight o’clock.
“That’s not true,” Biden said, denying the reports and seemingly trying to spin the narrative by making it about other people who would like to leave events earlier.
“Look, what I said was, instead of my every day starting at seven and going to bed at midnight, it’d be smarter for me to pace myself a little more. And I said, for example … instead of starting a fundraiser at nine o’clock, start at eight o’clock. People get to go home by 10 o’clock. That’s what I’m talking about,” he said, claiming that his schedule has been jam-packed.
Biden then, bizarrely, mentioned former President Donald Trump, questioning what he has been up to in comparison to him.
“Where’s Trump been? Riding around his golf cart, filling out his scorecard before he hits the ball. I mean, look, he’s done virtually nothing,” Biden said, failing to mention that Trump has continued to campaign, recently holding a rally in Doral, Florida.
Biden continued, stating that he has supposedly had “roughly 20 major events, some with thousands of people showing up.”
“I always have an inclination — whether I was playing sports or doing politics — just to keep going … I just got to just pace myself a little more,” he said.
“Pace myself and the next debate, I’m not going to be traveling in 15 time zones a week before,” he said, repeating one of the White House’s belated official excuses for his poor debate performance.
REPORTER: If “jet lag” was really a reason for Biden’s disastrous debate performance, why didn’t you just say that yesterday?
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: “That was my bad.” pic.twitter.com/xTEVXRrCSA
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 3, 2024
“Anyway, that’s what it was about,” Biden said. “That’s what it was about.”
Trump mocked Biden for a slip-up in his press conference, writing, “Crooked Joe begins his ‘Big Boy’ Press Conference with, ‘I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president, though I think she was not qualified to be president.’ Great job, Joe!”