WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden in a Milwaukee radio interview said he “screwed up” during the debate with former President Donald Trump last week — marking some of the first public comments from the president since the event.
“I had a bad night," Biden told Milwaukee radio host Earl Ingram in a pre-recorded interview that aired Thursday morning. "And the fact of the matter is that I screwed up. I made a mistake."
Biden, who is scheduled to visit Wisconsin on Friday, pledged that he was "going to win this election" and defeat Trump again. He referenced a line from his father: "When you get knocked down, you just get back up."
"I didn't have a good debate," Biden said. "That’s 90 minutes on stage. Look at what I’ve done in 3.5 years.”
The comments, made during an interview with Ingram recorded Wednesday, are among the first from the president following a shaky debate performance that highlighted questions about the 81-year-old Biden's age and led some Democrats to call to replace him at the top of the ticket. Biden has said he plans to stay in the race.
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Biden during the 18-minute interview that aired on WAUK-AM(540) said he was "proud to be running for reelection as a president that has made his promises — and I've kept them." He pointed to efforts to lower prescription drug prices, his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and work to create jobs.
He highlighted recent investments his administration has made in Wisconsin's Black community and noted his work appointing Black judges.
"I picked a Black woman to be my vice president. I've appointed the first Black woman to be a Supreme Court justice," Biden said, later adding: "I've appointed more Black judges, more Black women judges, than every other president in American history combined."
He attacked Trump for recent comments the presumptive Republican nominee made about Black workers. He said Trump did not do anything "to help the Black community and give people a shot."
"This is the guy that questioned George Floyd's humanity, led the birther movement against Barack Obama," Biden said. "This is the guy who said 'Barack Obama, that Black guy, he wasn't born in America.' And he kept it going, lying like hell."
"I'm sorry to get so worked up," Biden added at another point. "But he is just — he's done terrible things in the community, and he has about as much interest and concern for Black, minority communities as the man on the moon does."
Biden has visited Wisconsin four times in 2024 and plans to return to Madison this Friday. But the president has not sat down for interviews with Wisconsin's main media, rather doing pre-recorded interviews with local Black radio hosts. Biden in May pre-taped an interview with Milwaukee’s 101.7 “The Truth," during which he aimed to speak directly to Black voters.
Trump, meanwhile, has visited Wisconsin three times and participated in local conservative talk show interviews. In May, he sat down with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for an interview in which he would not commit to accepting the results of the upcoming election.
Wednesday's interview was recorded the same day Biden met with 24 Democratic governors from across the country as he sought to tamp down concerns from within the party about his place at the top of the ticket. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers was the only Democratic governor to miss the meeting.
"(Evers) didn’t attend the meeting because he’s focused on moving forward and winning Wisconsin," Evers spokeswoman Britt Cudaback wrote on X. "He supports President Biden — his comments in support of the president over the last week speak for themselves, and he looks forward to campaigning with the President on Friday."
Several governors after the meeting indicated they remained behind Biden.
“He has had our backs through COVID, through all of the recovery, all of the things that have happened,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz told reporters. “The governors have his back.”
“A path to victory in November is the No. 1 priority,” Walz said. “And that’s the No. 1 priority of the president. So that’s what we’re trying to get done.”
Milwaukee is set to host the Republican National Convention starting July 15.
Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed from Milwaukee.
