Biden blames age for poor debate performance: ‘Not a young man’

President Joe Biden blamed his age for a debate performance on Thursday that sparked a Democratic panic he is not fit to lead the ticket against former President Donald Trump.

At a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday, his first public event following the debate, Biden told the audience, “I don’t debate as well as I used to,” but insisted any concerns over his age should be balanced against a second Trump presidency, which he described as an existential threat to democracy.

“I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious. I know. I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to,” he told the crowd. “But I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth.”