The ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos was captured on camera saying he did not think Joe Biden could serve another four years in office, four days after a major TV interview with the US president and amid a re-election campaign in crisis.
The comment came after Biden attempted to assuage concerns among Democrats about his age and mental acuity, including in the recent interview with Stephanopoulos, previously a prominent political operative.
The show-business gossip site TMZ published a grainy video captured by an unidentified man walking on Fifth Avenue in New York City, who happened to encounter Stephanopoulos, apparently dressed for a workout.
The man asked: “Do you think Biden should step down? You’ve talked to him more than anybody else has lately.”
“I don’t think he can serve four more years,” Stephanopoulos responded, in what he later described as a candid moment.
Later, Stephanopoulos confirmed to TMZ that he was the person in the video, and issued a statement: “Earlier today, I responded to a question from a passerby. I shouldn’t have.”
An ABC spokesperson also told the outlet: “George expressed his own point of view and not the position of ABC News.”
After a disastrous debate performance in June, Democrats have split on whether Biden’s age and mental acuity allow him to serve another four years as president.
Seven House Democrats have publicly called on the president to end his campaign with many privately expressing the same. No Senate Democrats have done the same but Michael Bennet of Colorado on Tuesday said he feared Donald Trump was on track to win the November election, possibly by a landslide.
Trump, the presumptive Republican party nominee for the White House, also predicted a landslide for himself, despite his radical agenda, felony conviction, and indictments and civil court losses over sexual assault and fraud.
Biden told Stephanopoulos that only “the Lord almighty” could persuade him to step aside.
