President Joe Biden acknowledged on Tuesday that he “fell asleep on the stage” during his disastrous debate last week, blaming his performance on the fact that he had travelled “around the world a couple times” in the two weeks before the face-off with former President Donald Trump.

“I wasn’t very smart,” Biden, 81, told donors at a fundraiser in Virginia. “I decided to travel around the world a couple times, I don’t know how many time zones.”

“It’s not an excuse but an explanation,” he said.

Officials have blamed Biden’s having a cold at the time for his disjointed debate performance. Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, repeated that explanation at a briefing for reporters on Tuesday afternoon.

But Biden offered a different reason to the donors on Tuesday night. He referred to his decision to travel to France for several days two weeks before the debate and return to the US before heading back to Europe for the Group of 7 summit in Italy.

He decided to make that cross-Atlantic trip back and forth, Biden said, blaming himself for not having “listened to my staff”, which he implied had told him not to do that. He said the decision caused him to be tired during the debate.

Biden’s comments came as the White House struggled to respond to a chorus of anxiety within the Democratic Party about whether the President is capable of mounting a winning campaign against Trump in November.

For more than a year, Biden and his aides have repeatedly denied that the President’s age has affected his ability to perform his duties. They have repeatedly criticised journalists who raised the issue that large majorities of voters say they believe Biden is too old to be President.

But the debate, which was watched by about 51 million people, raised serious doubts among voters and many Democratic activists. Lawmakers in the party also expressed concerns, with Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas on Tuesday becoming the first Democrat in Congress to call on Biden to drop out of the race.

The President and his campaign have refused to even consider doing that. They say Biden remains determined to stay in the race and to defeat Trump, who he says is a threat to democracy in America.

ABC interview

Biden will sit for an interview on Friday with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, his first in-depth appearance with a journalist since his shaky debate performance.

Stephanopoulos, who has interviewed Biden before, is expected to tape the interview on Friday, when the President will be traveling on the campaign trail. The network said it would broadcast portions of the interview on its evening newscast.

New York Times News Service