spoiler
President Joe Biden has blamed his poor debate performance last week on jet lag, telling reporters that he "wasn't very smart" for "travelling around the world a couple of times" before the debate.
"I didn’t listen to my staff... and then I nearly fell asleep on stage,” he said.
Mr Biden, 81, last returned from travel on 15 June, nearly two weeks ahead of the 27 June debate.
The president's remarks come amid intra-party panic ahead of November's election over his mental fitness, and after a congressman from Texas became the first sitting Democratic lawmaker to call for him to step aside following the debate.
"I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw," Rep Lloyd Doggett said in a statement on Tuesday.
Mr Biden appeared to struggle through some responses during a debate with former President Donald Trump last Thursday.
"It’s not an excuse but an explanation,” he said at a private fundraiser in Virginia on Tuesday evening, referring to his travel.
He also apologised for his performance and said it was "critical" that he win re-election, according to ABC News.
Mr Biden made two separate trips to Europe within two weeks last month.
On 15 June, he appeared at a fundraiser alongside former President Barack Obama after an overnight trip from Italy. He returned to Washington DC the following day.
White House officials have previously said he was battling a cold on the day of the debate.
The president did not mention any illness in his remarks on Tuesday. A spokeswoman for the White House said earlier in the day that he was not taking any cold medication during the debate.
Mr Biden also spent six days at Camp David, the presidential retreat outside Washington DC, preparing for his debate against Donald Trump.
The New York Times, citing an unnamed source familiar with Mr Biden's schedule, reported on Tuesday that his days began at 11:00 each morning and that he was given time each day to nap.
Bro how do you get jet lag on a 2 hour private flight? You didn't even leave the time zone. I know people with longer commutes
He only had six days to recover from jet lag. I remember how horrible it was when I went from the US to Japan and had to spend an entire night being kinda sleepy. The next day I was still sleepy but not as much just a lil' sleepy. It made getting breakfast so hard because I sorta wanted lunch.
Yea imagine the strain of taking a long flight and all you have is an entire suite with a king size bed and a literal bedroom.
How long did it take you to recover from the Japan trip? I remember the jet leg from Guatemala to Taiwan and vice versa nearly took me a week to recover from both times.
Went from Florida to Nigeria a few years back and that kicked my ass.
its only like 5 hours ahead, but the travel was a 2.5 hour flight, a 7 hour flight, a 4ish hour layover, a 9 hour flight with a stop, then a 4 hour drive.
Two days before my sleep schedule was normal again, but I've also flown transatlantic enough times to adjust easily. I only felt tired the day after.
Mr Biden also spent six days at Camp David, the presidential retreat outside Washington DC, preparing for his debate against Donald Trump.
That's what I'm going off. I don't know the dates of his travel, but he had at least 6 days at an all-inclusive private resort.
expecting me to finish reading the article is authoritariamalism and totalimatarianism
This is also quite literally a problem a can of Redbull can fix, at least for 90 minutes.
Let alone amphetamines and whatever drug cocktail they pump into these Necromongers.
It's a good thing he wouldn't need to travel around the world as president then...
Or be alert and available between the hours of 4pm-10:59am, along with whatever nap time falls in between that packed 5 hour schedule of listening to his most loyal sycophants.
they had to tweet that out in panic during the debate without any input from him, it was an obvious lie
White House officials have previously said he was battling a cold on the day of the debate.
The president did not mention any illness in his remarks on Tuesday. A spokeswoman for the White House said earlier in the day that he was not taking any cold medication during the debate.
The New York Times, citing an unnamed source familiar with Mr Biden's schedule, reported on Tuesday that his days began at 11:00 each morning and that he was given time each day to nap.
that his days began at 11:00 each morning and that he was given time each day to nap.
eepi boiin the day that he was not taking any cold medication during the debate
Woulda been the easiest way to get amphetamines into the guy, shoulda taken the opportunity when it was available.
his days began at 11:00 each morning and that he was given time each day to nap.
jesus fucking christ
2/10 excuse because they didn't also blame the stutter.
I can't imagine how hard it must be to have a debate when you're suffering from jet lag, a cold, a stutter, and a super-science headache ray, all at the same time.
I blame the fact that he has obviously been mentally declining for years, but sure. Let's pretend that this isn't a Trump-style lie that these losers supposedly find to be the most morally repulsive thing on earth.
If it weren't for that Senate parliamentarian, I'd have rocked that debate stage!
Always a good sign when there's multiple completely different explanation that keep popping up days after the debate.
Deffinitly not floundering
Is it working yet? I feel like after this excuse I can fully distrust what my eyes saw. The previous contradictory excuses were also my eyes lying to me but this one feels right.
It's working flawlessly on the libs at reddit and literally nobody else in my experience.
He'll I've even seen a couple "stop gaslighting us" comments when people say that Biden just had a cold.
The cracks are deffinitly there but unless a high powered lib is willing to risk their career by being the first to break rank and call for him to step down nothings going to happen.
And anytime you're relying on the individual courage of a specific senator it's usually a pretty safe bet to say it's not going to happen.
"Sooo, the jet lag made him susceptible to the Havana Syndrome Ray that was used to simulate cold (NOT COVID!) symptoms which is why he seemed improved the next afternoon
...why is no one taking us seriously anymore?"
This is like a 2k era celebrity excuse, surprised they didn't pull the ol' Lindsay Lohan dehydration
The blue MAGAs have been coping sooo fucking much since the debate.
