President Joe Biden would re-evaluate his decision to continue his campaign if a doctors told him he has a medical condition, he said in an interview with BET News.
“If I have some medical condition that emerged,” Biden said in the interview, which aired Wednesday night, when he was asked whether there was anything that would warrant his re-evaluation of his campaign. “If somebody, if the doctors came to me and said you got this problem, that problem.”
Biden has faced continued calls from other Democrats to drop out of the race after his lackluster debate performance last month. But he has dismissed the possibility of leaving the race, telling ABC News that Democratic leaders in Congress urged him to continue his campaign. He insisted in that interview that he would drop out only “if the Lord Almighty came down.”
Biden also appeared to slip up several times during the interview, seemingly forgetting President Herbert Hoover's name and apparently mistaking the name of former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio.
“You know, there’s only two presidents in American history who have come to office and left with fewer jobs than they came to office. And the other was a guy we all know very well,” Biden said, referring to Hoover. “So, I call ... anyway, Trump is one of them.”
Discussing abortion rights, Biden seemed to fumble Vance's name, referring to “Mance.” Biden's campaign has targeted Vance for his opposition to Democratic-led legislation to codify abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling in 2022.
“Look, one of the things that’s happening is, you know, the majority of the states, even conservative states, where it’s been left to the public to determine whether or not they want to have no exceptions, they want to have a hard call, like, like, Mance wants on no abortion or circumstance — that there — you have states say, no, no, that’s not what we want to do, we want exceptions,” he said, appearing to refer to Vance.
Biden also claimed he has gotten pushback over his appointments of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
“Look at the heat I’m getting because I named a — the secretary of defense, a Black man,” he said, referring to Austin. “I named Ketanji Brown — I mean, because of the people I’ve named. It’s about making it clear that American history is Black history. Black history is American history, and it’s being built by it. That’s why we’re strong.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the apparent stumbles.
Speaking in Milwaukee outside the Republican National Convention, Biden deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks brushed back questions about his candidacy.
"Look, I talk to the president every day, like I said," Fulks said. "He is not wavering on anything. The president has made his decision. I don’t want to be rude, but I do not know how many more times we can answer that. Joe Biden has said he is running for president of the United States."
In a statement, Biden’s campaign sought to draw a contrast to the rhetoric at the GOP convention this week, saying Biden sought to highlight his policies to uplift Black communities and defend civil rights.
“On Tuesday, President Biden talked at length about the importance of Black America, the historic ways he has delivered for Black communities, and his proactive vision to stand up for civil rights, grow an economy where hard work pays off, and make housing more affordable," Biden campaign senior spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said.
“Meanwhile at the RNC, Donald Trump and his MAGA allies doubled down on extremism, division, and their Project 2025 agenda, making it clear that they are only interested in helping billionaires while turning Americans against each other,” she added. “The choice couldn’t be more clear.”
Project 2025 is the conservative Heritage Foundation's broad policy blueprint for a Trump administration, which Trump has distanced himself from, saying this month that he has "nothing to do with them.”
Biden has made it a priority to appoint a diverse Cabinet and judiciary, something his White House has touted.
Biden has remained defiant against calls from other Democrats to end his re-election bid after his poor June debate performance raised mounting concerns over his mental capabilities and age.
He declined to commit to taking a cognitive or neurological test this month in his first interview after his widely scrutinized debate performance.
In the interview with ABC News, Biden argued that he gets a “full neurological test every day,” referring to his duties as president. Asked whether he has taken a cognitive test, he said, “No, no one said I had to.”
In a letter this month, White House physician Kevin O’Connor said Biden has not seen a neurologist outside his annual physicals. Before the letter was released, NBC News had confirmed a New York Post report that said a Parkinson’s expert from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center visited the White House at least eight times in eight months.
In his interview with BET, Biden acknowledged that he “made a serious mistake in the whole debate” last month.
Biden recalled that he had initially launched his presidential bid with the intention of being a “transitional candidate” who would be “able to move from this and pass it along to someone else,” but he said he switched gears after having seen the nation become “so, so, so divided.”
“And quite frankly, I think the only thing you need to bring is a little bit of wisdom,” Biden said. “And I think I’ve demonstrated that I know how to get things done for the country. In spite of the fact we were told we couldn’t get it done. But there’s more to do, and I’m reluctant to walk away from that.”
