Joe Biden Concedes He 'Screwed Up' Debate Against Trump, As Pressure Mounts

President Joe Biden conceded he performed poorly at last week’s debate against former President Donald Trump in a radio interview that aired Thursday, amid mounting speculation about his future at the top of the Democratic ticket.

In an appearance on the “The Earl Ingram Show,” Biden was determined to stay in the race, arguing that his disastrous 90-minute debate showing was not representative of his nearly four years in office.

“I had a bad night,” Biden said. “I screwed up. I made a mistake but I learned from my father when you get knocked down you just get back up, get back up. We’re going to win this election. We’re going to just beat Donald Trump just like we did in 2020. We’re going to beat him again.”

Voter surveys suggest that’s far from certain. The first post-debate New York Times/Siena College poll showed Trump beating Biden by six percentage points among likely voters nationally.

Biden’s weak showing at the debate, during which he fumbled answers and often looked confused, reignited long-standing concerns about Biden’s age and fitness to serve another four years. Biden would be 86 at the end of a potential second term.

While Biden has blamed his performance on a cold and intense travel schedule, pressure is growing on him to reconsider his candidacy; two House Democrats have so far called for him to drop out.

At least as of now, though, Biden appears to determined to fight this election.

During the interview, the president pointed to the legislative efforts his administration has pushed to improve veterans’ health care, before blasting Trump for calling Americans who died in war “suckers” and “losers.”

“My son died, because of a year in Iraq,” the president told host Earl Ingram, in reference to his late son,