President Biden sought to stabilize his reelection campaign by speaking with two Black radio hosts in interviews that aired Thursday, but he spoke haltingly at times in one interview and struggled to find the right phrasing in the other, even as he said he was proud to be “the first Black woman to work with a Black president.”
He also stumbled during a four-minute Independence Day address to military families at the White House, beginning to speak about former President Donald J. Trump, calling him “one of our colleagues, a former president,” before adding, “I probably shouldn't say that at the very least,” before abruptly ending his speech and moving on.
Biden made the mistake while speaking to Philadelphia-based radio station WURD as he was about to make a remark he has repeatedly made about his pride in serving as vice president under President Barack Obama. Earlier in the interview, Biden had bragged about appointing the first Black woman to the Supreme Court and selecting the first Black woman as vice president.
The president also began the interview by claiming incorrectly that he was the first president elected from within Delaware; he seemed to mean that he was the first Catholic elected from within the state, and he went on to praise John F. Kennedy, who was Catholic.
Biden and his aides have said the president's activities over the next few days are part of a campaign spree aimed at proving to voters, donors and activists that his debate gaffe was just a “bad night.”
Amar Moosa, a spokesman for Biden's campaign, criticized media outlets for picking up on the president's gaffe.
“It's clear what President Biden meant when he spoke about his historic record of achievements, including record-breaking appointments to federal court judges,” she said, referring to the president's comments about being a Black woman. “This is not news, and the media has crossed the line of absurdity here.”
The president's every appearance has come under intense scrutiny since he appeared lethargic and distracted during last Thursday's debate with former President Donald J. Trump, which sparked a wave of anxiety among Democrats that he may be too old to remain the party's nominee.
The president is scheduled to give an interview to ABC's George Stephanopoulos on Friday after a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin, and appear at a campaign event in Philadelphia on Sunday.
On Thursday, the president used a radio interview to try to allay concerns about the debate among members of the Black community, with both show hosts praising and thanking Biden after the interview.
When Biden appeared on “The Earl Ingraham Show,” which is aimed at black listeners in Wisconsin but is also broadcast nationally, Ingraham began the segment by asking the president to “tell me about some of your accomplishments, some of which we may or may not know about.”
But despite the relaxed nature of the interview, the president stammered at times in his rapid-fire answers. Asked why voting was important, Biden pointed to the Supreme Court's decision this week to grant Trump immunity from imprisonment.
“The Supreme Court just recently ruled in a way that threatened the American principle that we have no kings, and we need someone to make sure that happens,” he said. “No one is above the law.”
“We've always given Donald Trump executive power, we've given him the power to game the system, but our founding fathers never contemplated that because of the people he appointed to the Supreme Court,” he said, appearing to stutter at times with a condition he's suffered from since childhood. “This is presidential immunity. He can say, I did this as an executive officer, I may have been wrong, but I did it. But it's valid, because I'm the same guy who's saying I want revenge.”
The president's responses to Ingraham's four questions were lengthy, focusing mainly on listing his accomplishments in office and criticizing Trump, but he also paused at times during the 17-minute interview.
In answering a question about the importance of voting, he began talking about Trump's proposal to raise tariffs on all Chinese products imported into the U.S. He stopped mid-answer and apologized for going on too long.
“President Trump wants to put a 10% tariff on everything imported into the United States,” he said. “Experts say that this will raise taxes on the average American by $2,500. Meanwhile, next time President Trump will give everyone with an income a $5 trillion tax cut, and anyway, I don't want to get too caught up in that.”
Biden also stopped using derogatory terms to describe Trump in his response to questions about his son Beau, who died of brain cancer after serving a year in Iraq and blamed his son's death on living too close to an incinerator where waste was dumped.
“He started out as a very healthy man and came home with stage 4 glioblastoma. There was more brain damage in that war than any other war. And he passed away,” Biden said. “We cannot allow this president to talk about our veterans in that way.”
At the end of his interview with Ingraham, the president again acknowledged that he had performed poorly in the debate.
“The reality is, I screwed up,” he said. “I made a mistake.”