Biden explained his performance this way during a campaign event with donors in McLean, Virginia, Washington.
– I decided to travel the world a few times shortly before the debate (…) I didn't listen to my colleagues and then I almost fell asleep on stage – said the president, quoted by journalists present at the event, apologizing for his poor performance. – This is not an excuse, but an explanation – he added.
Earlier during Tuesday's press briefing White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre explained that Biden had — and still does — a cold and was struggling with a sore throat. She denied, however, that the president was taking cold medication.
US Presidential Election. Who Won the Debate?
67% of respondents watching the debate thought he won it Donald Trump, while 33 percent indicated Joe Biden – according to a survey commissioned by CNN.
The results of the survey conducted among 565 voters watching the debate in Atlanta show that Trump fared better and Biden worse than originally expected. Of those same respondents, 55% predicted a Trump victory before the debate, while 45% predicted Biden.
In a similar poll after the first Biden-Trump debate in 2020, the former won by a similar margin, 60 percent to 28 percent.
Despite Trump's clear victory, the poll suggests the debate will only slightly changed the assessment of the candidates. Fifty-seven percent of respondents said they had no confidence in Biden’s ability to serve as president, while 44 percent said the same about Trump. Before the duel, 55 percent said they had no confidence in Biden, while 47 percent said they had no confidence in Trump.
Joe Biden's European Trips and Debate Preparation
Biden made two trips to Europe in June, first visiting France on June 4-7and later in the days June 13-15 Italywhere he participated in the leaders' summit G7and immediately after returning from Italy, he flew to Los Angeles. However, he spent the last week before the debate preparing for the showdown with Trump at the presidential facility at Camp David in Maryland.
The New York Times states that the president – like his younger aides – was so tired after a series of journeys, that debate preparations were cut short by two days, which Biden spent at his home in the Delaware seaside resort of Rehoboth Beach. At Camp David, preparations began after 11 a.m., and he had time for afternoon naps.
The daily also writes that although, according to sources in Biden's circle, the president usually seems mentally alert, in recent weeks he has been experiencing increasingly frequent episodes of mishaps, slips of the tongue, or downtime. His stay in Italy was said to have been “marked by moments of astuteness in important meetings”, including the use of Russian assets to support Ukrainybut also moments when Biden seemed lost.
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