Similar messages appeared across X as the calendar turned to July, with Biden’s campaign attempting to calm unrest among some Democrats over the way the president presented himself during the June 27 debate with former Republican President Donald Trump, his presumptive opponent in the November election.
Some political commentators called for the 81-year-old Biden to resign after the debate, including The New York Times Editorial Board, Polls show his age remains a concern for some voters.
The Democrat has tried to quell the negativity with a fiery campaign speech vowing to keep fighting, followed by a series of campaign fundraising events in which he sought to reassure big-business donors.
But contrary to Jones’s claims, Biden did not indicate in a recent interview that he was considering leaving the White House for medical reasons.
A keyword search revealed that the clip was dated December 3, 2020, the date on which Biden and Harris were elected but not yet inaugurated (archived here).
Tapper had asked Biden to describe the biggest surprise in working with Harris, who had campaigned against him before dropping out of the race and becoming his running mate.
Biden responded that he holds no grudge. He said he and Harris share similar views on government and ethics, and compared it to his experience of eight years as Barack Obama’s vice president.
“We are united in our philosophy of governance and united in how we want to address these issues that we face,” Biden said. “And so I have not — and if we disagree, it will be just like — so far it has been just like when Barack (Obama) and I. It’s private.”
He continued: “And as I told Barack, if I get to a place where we fundamentally disagree on a moral principle, I’m going to develop a disease and say, I have to resign. We don’t have that — we don’t have that — and we’ve talked extensively about our views on foreign policy, domestic policy, intelligence.”
His reference to an illness that would end his career appears to have been a hypothetical question, intended to make a point about his understanding on moral principles with Obama and Harris, well before the 2024 campaign.
AFP has reached out to the White House for comment, but has not yet received a response.
AFP has debunked other misinformation about US politics here.
