Fact-Checking Biden’s ABC Interview

The president defended his debate performance with exaggerations about polling, his recent appearances and his opponent.

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In the interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, President Biden downplayed polls showing him falling farther behind former President Donald J. Trump.

President Biden rejected concerns about his fumbling performance in the first presidential debate last month in a prime-time interview on Friday.

In the interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, Mr. Biden downplayed and misstated polls showing him falling farther behind former President Donald J. Trump since the debate, exaggerated Mr. Trump’s proposals and made hyperbolic statements about his own record and recent events.

Here’s a fact check.

what Was SAID

“After that debate, I did 10 major events in a row, including until 2 o’clock in the morning after the debate. I did events in North Carolina. I did events in — in — in Georgia, did events like this today, large crowds, overwhelming response, no — no — no slipping.”

This is exaggerated. Since the debate on June 27, Mr. Biden has traveled up and down the East Coast and participated in more than a dozen events, according to his public calendar. Whether or not the events can be considered “major” and crowds “large” are matters of opinion, but Mr. Biden did misspeak at several.

Before the interview on Friday, Mr. Biden said of Mr. Trump at a rally in Wisconsin that he would “beat him again in 2020.”

At a Fourth of July barbecue with military members and their families, Mr. Biden referred to Mr. Trump as “one of our former colleagues” before correcting himself.

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