‘Nearly fell asleep’: Biden’s shock debate excuse

US President Joe Biden has made a surprise quip about his disastrous election debate performance, saying he “wasn’t very smart”.

Embattled US President Joe Biden’s plan to stay in the election race has been rocked by dire polling, crisis talks among allies, and loyalists breaking ranks to challenge his fitness to run.

Five days after his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump, and with the President showing no signs of changing course, top Democrats went public with their fears as surveys showed most of the party’s supporters wanted Mr Biden to be dumped.

The 81-year-old was also hit with a series of damning new reports about his ability to serve in the Oval Office, with legendary journalist Carl Bernstein saying Mr Biden had suffered as many as 20 mental breakdowns similar to his shaky effort against the former president.

US President Joe Biden during last week’s debate against Donald Trump. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

The New York Times also revealed that during the President’s six-day debate preparation, his rehearsals did not start until 11am and he was given time for an afternoon nap.

A new CNN poll found Mr Biden’s approval rating crashed to a record low after the debate and that Mr Trump held a convincing lead as he plotted to return to power in November, with 49 per cent of voters favouring the Republican and 43 per cent backing the Democrat.

It also showed Vice President Kamala Harris performed better than the President in a hypothetical election matchup against Trump.

Asked if the Democrats would have a better chance of winning the election without Mr Biden, 75 per cent of voters said yes, including 56 per cent of the party’s supporters.

Several other potential replacements for the oldest president in history – including Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg – all polled similarly to Mr Biden against Mr Trump.

Concerns have been raised about Joe Biden’s physical and mental health. Picture: AFP

They expressed their surprise that none of them had heard directly from the President, although they were reportedly worried that going public would see Mr Biden dig in further.

Mr Biden’s deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty had used a weekend fundraising email to attack those calling for him to drop out as the “bed-wetting brigade”.

But as the President ignored calls to publicly respond to his critics – at least not until a major TV interview scheduled for Friday (local time) – more top Democrats moved to speak out.

Texas congressman Lloyd Doggett became the first Democratic lawmaker to call for Mr Biden to “make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw” from the election race.

US Vice President Kamala Harris defended Mr Biden after the debate. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

Another congressman, speaking anonymously to CNN, said there was a “large and increasing group” who felt the same way that would be “increasingly vocal about our concerns” if Mr Biden did not step aside.

Vermont senator Peter Welsh said it was a “discussion we have to have” as he criticised the White House’s “dismissive attitude” towards those who raised concerns, while Illinois congressman Mike Quigley added that Mr Biden had to “be honest with himself”.

Rhode Island senator Sheldon Whitehouse said he was “horrified” by Mr Biden’s debate performance as he asked for assurances that it was “a real anomaly and not just the way he is these days”.

And Maine congressman Jared Golden, who represents a district won by Trump in 2020, said: “Donald Trump is going to win.”

The White House initially blamed Mr Biden’s poor debate performance on a cold, although his spokeswoman said on Tuesday (local time) that he had not taken any medication. He then told donors that his overseas travel tired him out and that he “almost fell asleep on stage”.

Mr Biden said he “wasn’t very smart” for having travelled extensively in the weeks leading up to the event.

“I decided to travel around the world a couple of times … shortly before the debate,” Mr Biden said at a campaign fundraiser in McLean, Virginia.

“I didn’t listen to my staff … and then I almost fell asleep onstage,” he quipped.

“It’s not an excuse but an explanation,” he added.

BIDEN SET FOR TV INTERVIEW

Mr Biden will star in his first television interview after the debate disaster this weekend where he will be interviewed in the US by the ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.

The interview with Stephanopoulos, who is a former White House communications director, is critical for Mr Biden.

It will be the first time he has been seen in an off-the-cuff appearance since the debate to help overcome concerns about his ability to lead the Democrats in the November election.

SUPPORT FOR BIDEN WANES

After Biden’s debate catastrophe, his chances of remaining as the Democratic Party’s election candidate are shrinking rather than strengthening.

With the oldest president in history failing to publicly confront questions about his capacity to run for re-election, let alone serve for four more years, elected Democrats have begun to break ranks to call on him to consider dropping out of the race against Donald Trump.

Left-leaning media outlets also urged him to abandon his re-election effort, along with high-profile columnists who were among the few media figures with a direct line to Biden.

The New York Times’s editorial board said the President was “the shadow of a great public servant” who was “engaged in a reckless gamble” if he still believed he could beat Trump.

An angry Biden aide told CNN that the stance of the Times – which did not back Biden in the 2020 race to be the Democratic nominee – was like “jet fuel in my veins”.

David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker, said “most people with eyes to see were unnerved”, and that Biden remaining in the race “would be an act not only of self-delusion but of national endangerment”.

Some Democratic members of Congress also spoke out on Tuesday (local time) and several more threatened to go public if Biden did not change course, while Democratic governors pushed the White House for crisis talks.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tellingly questioned whether Biden’s debate meltdown was “an episode” or “a condition”, while fellow Democratic veteran James Clyburn – who helped Biden claim the presidency in 2020 – said he would support Vice President Kamala Harris “if he were to step aside”.

The President’s campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon claimed that while “the beltway class is counting Joe Biden out”, the debate “did not change the horse race” among voters.

But Biden pushed for the unusually early debate against his Republican opponent because he trailed in the polls – a disadvantage only sharpened by his poor performance.