The White House on Tuesday declared that it wants to “turn the page” on last week’s debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, adding a list of new events to the president’s schedule as Democratic concerns appear to gain steam.
“We’re going to turn the page, we're going to get out there across the country, Americans are going to see him for themselves,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Tuesday. “Americans are going to see him for themselves.”
Just hours later, Biden told donors at an off-camera fundraiser in Virginia that his international travel in the weeks leading up to the debate – which included trips to France and Italy – impacted his performance, adding “and then I almost fell asleep on stage.” But in the days before the debate, Biden was preparing at Camp David, the presidential retreat, with nothing on his public schedule.
Meanwhile, in what marked the first full briefing at the White House since Thursday’s debate – which sparked fresh concerns about the 81-year-old president’s age and fitness – Jean-Pierre fielded a swath of questions about Biden’s ability to carry out the role of the presidency. She announced the president would speak with Democratic governors and members of Congress this week, travel to the battleground states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania on Friday and Sunday, sit down for an interview with ABC News and host a press conference next week during the NATO summit in Washington.
The press secretary acknowledged at least a dozen times during the briefing that Thursday’s debate was a “bad night” for the president but consistently touted Biden's record, stressing that his performance in the White House matters most.
“We understand, we understand, we're not taking away from what you all saw, or what the American people saw,” she said. “We understand, it was a bad night, it is not uncommon for incumbents to have a bad night in their first debate.”
“I think the president’s record certainly speaks for itself,” she added.
Jean-Pierre on Tuesday also pointed to the commander in chief having a cold – something Biden’s team told reporters during Thursday night’s debate when it became clear his voice sounded hoarse. She said, however, the president had not taken any cold medicine.
Although most elected Democrats publicly stood by Biden amid chatter of him pulling out of the race in the immediate wake of the debate, questions and concerns over his ability to carry out the job for another four years grew on Tuesday when Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett became the first Democrat to call on Biden to step aside.
And earlier on Tuesday, former Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who defended Biden over the weekend, said it was “legitimate” to ask whether the president’s performance was “an episode” or “a condition” during an interview on MSNBC.
Asked about Pelosi’s comment on Tuesday, Jean-Pierre chalked it up to the president having “a cold and a bad night.”
"I would not see this as an episode," she added.
The day after the debate, Biden himself alluded to his shaky performance, acknowledging to supporters at a rally in North Carolina that he is “not a young man" and that he "[doesn't] debate as well as [he] used to.” But, he said, "[he knows] how to tell the truth” – a statement Jean-Pierre cited multiple times during Tuesday’s briefing.
Spectrum News' Justin Tasolides contributed to this report.