Joe Biden Gives First Interview Since Debate, Says He Had a 'Bad Episode' & Blames Performance on Being Sick

President Joe Biden is speaking out in his first interview since his lackluster performance in the presidential debate against Republican candidate Donald Trump.

The 81-year-old POTUS sat down with ABC News‘ George Stephanopoulos for an interview that aired on Friday (July 5).

Stephanopoulos asked Biden if his debate performance was a “bad episode” or “the sign of a more serious condition.”

Biden responded, “It’s a bad episode… no indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing. It was a bad night.”

Biden also placed blame for his performance on being sick and explained what was going on.

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“Because I was sick,” Biden said. “I was feeling terrible. The docs with me, I asked if they did a COVID test because they were trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection or a virus. I didn’t. They just said [it was] a really bad cold.”

Biden said he did not watch the debate after, but he knew it was going badly during it.

Watch the full interview clip below.

Earlier this week, the White House responded to a report that Biden was considering dropping out of the race.