--- title: 'I Screwed Up': Biden's Admission After Presidential Debate description: President Joe Biden, 81, has spoken out following his much-criticized performance during the first 2024 presidential debate. canonical: https://time.com/6995116/biden-candid-interview-screwed-up-first-presidential-debate-response/ author: Olivia-Anne Cleary article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-07-04T14:43:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T17:53:38.679Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'I Screwed Up': Biden Makes Candid Admission After Debate og:description: President Joe Biden, 81, has spoken out following his much-criticized performance during the first presidential debate. og:url: https://time.com/6995116/biden-candid-interview-screwed-up-first-presidential-debate-response/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt63fa7216caa97f4b/698a586c096a9460fb6b0afd/GettyImages-2159613045.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Donald Trump And Joe Biden Participate In First Presidential Debate og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'I Screwed Up': Biden Makes Candid Admission After Debate twitter:description: President Joe Biden, 81, has spoken out following his much-criticized performance during the first presidential debate. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt63fa7216caa97f4b/698a586c096a9460fb6b0afd/GettyImages-2159613045.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'I Screwed Up': Biden Makes Candid Admission After First Presidential Debate > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=dc979820-4080-41cd-a9ec-968385f2f3f4&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Olivia-Anne Cleary](https://time.com/author/olivia-anne-cleary/)  ## Olivia-Anne Cleary Cleary is an editor at TIME, based in the London bureau. Jul 4, 2024 2:43 PM UTC  President Joe Biden walks off stage after standing against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump at the presidential debate on June 27, 2024, at the CNN studios in Atlanta, Georgia. President Joe Biden walks off stage after standing against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump at the presidential debate on June 27, 2024, at the CNN studios in Atlanta, Georgia. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images  by [Olivia-Anne Cleary](https://time.com/author/olivia-anne-cleary/)  ## Olivia-Anne Cleary Cleary is an editor at TIME, based in the London bureau. Jul 4, 2024 2:43 PM UTC President Joe Biden, 81, has spoken out following his much-criticized performance during the [first 2024 presidential debate ](https://time.com/6993360/first-presidential-debate-biggest-moments-2024/)on Thursday, June 27\. In a radio interview with Civic Media’s _The Earl Ingram Show,_ [which aired in full on July 4](https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1ZkJzjZQkngJv) following the release of [a snippet preview](https://x.com/CivicMediaUS/status/1808649909937000820?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1808649909937000820%7Ctwgr%5E788f775ef991b3157cf8b49da5941d1df4ada607%7Ctwcon%5Es1%5F&ref%5Furl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.itv.com%2Fnews%2F2024-07-04%2Fbiden-admits-i-screwed-up-debate-as-pressure-mounts-to-quit-presidential-race), the Democratic Party leader reflected on the debate. “I had a bad night, and the fact of the matter is that, you know... I screwed up. I made a mistake,” he said. Pointing to his presidential tenure, Biden added: “That’s 90 minutes on stage. Look at what I’ve done in 3.5 years.” Biden has sparked concern after he was seen stumbling over his words and seemingly losing his train of thought during certain parts of the debate, which took place at CNN’s Atlanta studios and was co-moderated by journalists Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. At one notable point, after Biden finished answering a question about immigration and border security, presumptive Republican nominee [Donald Trump](https://time.com/6972022/donald-trump-transcript-2024-election/) said of his opponent: “[I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQEL6ShXE3U). I don't think he knows what he said either.” > [](https://twitter.com/CivicMediaUS/status/1808649909937000820) **Read More:** [_Trump Claims People Said He ‘Had the Greatest Performance in History of Presidential Debates’_ ](https://time.com/6993947/trump-truth-social-post-greatest-presidential-debate-performance-claim/)Following the debate, there have been loud calls for Biden to step aside. Some are vying for the President to [allow Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place](https://time.com/6993970/why-biden-must-step-aside-for-democrats/) ahead of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, which is set to be held in Chicago from Aug. 19 to Aug. 22\. Within the Democratic Party, some sitting members have also voiced their wish for the [President to withdraw from the 2024 election](https://time.com/6994628/democrats-biden-drop-out/) before the all-important November vote. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has hit back at reports Biden is set to withdraw. “[The President is clear-eyed and he is staying in the race](https://time.com/6994944/joe-biden-drop-out-kamala-polls/),” she said, firmly. And Biden himself has made an effort to rally the public following his performance. **Read More:** [_‘I’m in This Race to the End’: Biden Digs His Heels as Calls to Drop Out Grow Louder_](https://time.com/6994944/joe-biden-drop-out-kamala-polls/) On Friday, June 28, the day after the debate, Biden showed his defiant stance during a campaign rally in North Carolina. Acknowledging concerns over his age and debate performance, yet insisting he is up for the job, Biden told a cheering crowd: “[I don’t walk as easy as I used to.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaaEhPkplRo) I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. And I know, like millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down, you get back up.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6995116/biden-candid-interview-screwed-up-first-presidential-debate-response/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6995116/biden-candid-interview-screwed-up-first-presidential-debate-response/"},"headline":"'I Screwed Up': Biden Makes Candid Admission After First Presidential Debate","datePublished":"2024-07-04T14:43:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T17:53:38.679Z","description":"President Joe Biden, 81, has spoken out following his much-criticized performance.","url":"https://time.com/6995116/biden-candid-interview-screwed-up-first-presidential-debate-response/","keywords":["Joe Biden","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt63fa7216caa97f4b/698a586c096a9460fb6b0afd/GettyImages-2159613045.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia-Anne Cleary","jobTitle":"Cleary is an editor at TIME, based in the London bureau.","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-anne-cleary/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt63fa7216caa97f4b/698a586c096a9460fb6b0afd/GettyImages-2159613045.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump And Joe Biden Participate In First Presidential Debate","caption":"Donald Trump And Joe Biden Participate In First Presidential Debate","creditText":"Justin Sullivan—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/joe-biden/","name":"Joe Biden"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6995116/biden-candid-interview-screwed-up-first-presidential-debate-response/","name":"'I Screwed Up': Biden Makes Candid Admission After First Presidential Debate"}}]}] ```