Biden set for ABC interview after fiery speech aimed at turning campaign around

President Joe Biden was set Friday to sit for a make-or-break ABC News interview after in Wisconsin as he seeks to turn his troubled campaign around after last week’s debate.

The embattled 81-year-old president planned to answer questions from George Stephanopoulos in what his campaign called a crucial effort to refute concerns he is too old to run for four more year in the White House.

Portions of the interview will air Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. and the full sit-down will show at 8 p.m., an unusually rapid turnaround time that underscores the importance of the event.

Biden’s campaign and supporters hope the interview will show the aging leader has the vitality and mental fitness to continue after his halting and often incoherent debate performance.

“Let me say this as clearly as I can: I’m staying in the race,” Biden told a roaring crowd. “I am going to run and I’m going to win again.”

The Biden team hopes an aggressive schedule of campaign events in coming days will quiet speculation that he may pull the plug on his campaign against former President Trump.

Some Democratic lawmakers and prominent donors have demanded Biden step aside after the debate performance and there are some signs of a dip in polling support in the week since.

Biden will address supporters at a rally in the Democratic stronghold of Madison, Wisconsin, as aides announced more upcoming events designed to counter perceptions he is too weak to campaign effectively.

Trump, who is basking in his post-debate status as White House frontrunner, called on Biden to agree to a “no holds barred” debate without a moderator, but Biden’s campaign did not respond to the demand.

The two campaigns have already agreed to one more debate on Sept. 10.

Biden sought to portray strength, confidence and Democratic unity in a July 4 barbecue at the White House Thursday night

“I’m not going anywhere,” Biden told a crowd of veterans and military servicemembers.

In a shift from his past protocol, he stood on the balcony with his family and Vice President Kamala Harris, who locked arms with him in a sign of support.

Harris, 59, the nation’s first Black vice president, is Biden’s top lieutenant and would be the most obvious candidate to replace him on the ticket.

But some Democrats have called for some kind of open contest with other wannabe candidates either before or at the Democratic National Convention in early August.

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