Biden admits he suffered from jet lag during presidential debate

US President Joe Biden acknowledged Tuesday that his performance in last Thursday’s presidential debate was not his best, but blamed it on jet lag after two overseas trips earlier in June. Biden faces growing questions about his 2024 re-election bid after his shaky performance in last week’s debate, with a fellow House Democrat publicly calling on him Tuesday to withdraw from the race.

At a campaign event in McLean, Virginia, on Tuesday night, Biden admitted that the debate against former President Donald Trump, his Republican rival, did not go well. “I didn’t have the best night, but the fact is, you know, I wasn’t very smart,” Biden said, speaking at the campaign fundraiser without the aid of a teleprompter. “I decided to go around the world a few times, crossing about 100 time zones … before … the debate.”

“I didn’t listen to my team and I came back almost falling asleep on stage,” he said. “That’s not an excuse, but it’s an explanation.” Biden traveled to France and Italy on two separate trips in the span of two weeks last month, flying overnight from the G7 summit in Bari, Italy, to attend a fundraiser with former President Barack Obama in Los Angeles on June 15 before returning to Washington the next day.

He then spent six days at Camp David preparing for the June 27 debate. White House officials blamed Biden’s faltering debate performance on a cold. Biden did not mention being sick during Tuesday’s fundraiser.

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll, closed Tuesday, showed that one in three Democrats think Biden should end his re-election campaign after the debate, but no major elected Democrat is doing better than Biden in a hypothetical matchup with Trump. The two-day poll found that Trump, 78, and Biden, 81, both retain the support of 40% of registered voters, suggesting Biden has not lost any ground since the debate. Election Day is Nov. 5.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)