Biden ridiculed as he says he ‘almost fell asleep’ during debate due to exhaustion from foreign travel

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA: President Biden, during a fundraiser on Tuesday, July 2 in McLean, Virginia, attributed his poor debate performance to exhaustion from international travel.

However, Biden's foreign travel schedule showed only two brief trips: a visit to France from June 5-June 9 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, and attendance at the G7 summit in Italy from June 12-June 14. These trips preceded the CNN debate against former President Donald Trump on June 27.

"I decided to travel around the world a couple of times… shortly before the debate," Biden told Democrat donors. "It wasn’t very smart [to be] traveling around the world a couple times. I didn’t listen to my staff… and then I almost fell asleep on stage.”

During his trip to France, Biden spent the first day resting at his hotel without any public engagements. After returning to the US, Biden took time off at his Rehoboth Beach home from June 18-June 20 before moving to Camp David, where he remained out of the public eye until the debate.

The New York Times reported that his debate preparation sessions at Camp David “never started before 11 am and Mr Biden was given time for an afternoon nap each day.”

Joe Biden's presidential debate performance and criticism

Biden's debate performance was widely criticized. He spoke with a soft, raspy voice and made several incoherent statements, including the puzzling phrase “We finally beat Medicare.”

Initially, his aides suggested his subpar performance might be due to a cold. However, Biden's fatigue explanation did not quell concerns within his party, the New York Post reported.

On July 2, Rep Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) became the first sitting Democrat to urge Biden to step aside, drawing a parallel to President Lyndon B Johnson’s decision not to seek reelection in 1968.

Similarly, Rep Jared Golden of Maine expressed his lack of confidence in Biden in an op-ed for the Bangor Daily News: “Biden’s poor performance in the debate was not a surprise. It also didn’t rattle me as it has others, because the outcome of this election has been clear to me for months: While I don’t plan to vote for him, Donald Trump is going to win. And I’m OK with that.”

Former President Trump seized the opportunity to criticize Biden. In a Truth Social post on Saturday, Trump described Biden’s debate performance as a "choke" and suggested he might have been in a "trance."

“I watched a man, first hand, ‘CHOKE’ under tremendous pressure, the likes of which he has never seen before. This was a ‘MONSTER’ show, and it could be plainly and openly felt onstage," he wrote.

Trump acknowledged Biden's improved performance at a subsequent rally in Raleigh, NC, but argued it wasn’t sufficient: “His speech on Friday was better, and he seems to be coming out of his trance, but AMERICA must ask itself, with all of the many dangers around, do we really want a President who CHOKES? I don’t think so!”

Trump also claimed to have delivered “the greatest debate performance in the long and storied history of Presidential Debates".

Post-debate internal Democratic polling published by Puck News showed Trump, at 78, leading in traditionally Democratic states like New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Virginia. A CBS News poll released on Monday revealed that 45% of Democrats want Biden to step aside, a stance echoed by the New York Times editorial board on Friday.

Internet reacts to Joe Biden's explanation for poor debate performance

Biden’s fatigue explanation sparked ridicule on social media.

"Is that what you’re going with?" one posted on X.

"Next level gaslighting," another wrote.

"He had a week off (off from his job as president) at Camp David. It’s even worse than we thought," someone else noted.

"Funny, just the other day they were saying it was a cold," a comment read.

"Fortunately global crises only ever happen when POTUS is well rested and world travel is rarely necessary," another chimed in sarcastically.

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