President Joe Biden criticized NBC News’ Lester Holt and the news media for focusing on his gaffes instead of fact-checking former President Donald Trump.
In a contentious exchange with Monday, Biden acknowledged having a “bad night” — as he’s previously called it — but said the media wasn’t talking enough about Trump’s performance.
“Lester, look — why don’t you guys ever talk about the 18 to 28 lies [Trump] told? Where are you on this, why doesn’t the press ever talk about this?” Biden asked. “I had a bad, bad night, I wasn’t feeling well at all, and I had been … I screwed up.”
He told Holt that he’d “seen pieces” of the debate, but hadn’t watched the full broadcast, rebuffing the idea that watching the full program might help him understand why so many have joined the chorus for him to suspend his campaign.
“I didn’t have to see it, I was there,” Biden said, laughing. “And, by the way, seriously, you won’t answer the question, but why didn’t the press talk about all the lies he told.”
“We have reported many of the issues that came out of that debate,” Holt countered, prompting Biden to chime in, “No, you haven’t. No, you haven’t.”
The president struck a defiant note when asked if he’d consider agreeing to another debate before the already-agreed upon debate in September in an effort to “try to get back on the horse,” firing back: “I’m on the horse!”
And he declined to say what he’d do if he again has another disappointing debate in September.
“I don’t plan of having another performance on that level,” he said.
As the interview wrapped, Biden couldn’t resist taking one final jab at Holt, telling the NBC News anchor: “Sometime, come and talk to me about what we should be talking about,” after Holt thanked the president for his time.