Biden says he'd reconsider running if "some medical condition" emerged

Washington — President Biden said he would reevaluate running for reelection if a doctor told him that he had a serious medical condition. 

In an interview with BET News' Ed Gordon released Wednesday and airing the same night, Mr. Biden was asked whether there was anything that would make him reconsider staying in the race, a rematch against former President Donald Trump. 

"If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody — if doctors came to me and said you got this problem, that problem," Mr. Biden said, according to a video clip released by the network. 

The president said at a news conference last week that none of his doctors have told him he has a medical condition, other than the issues that have already been disclosed to the public. 

Mr. Biden's debate flop last month against former President Donald Trump renewed scrutiny of his health and mental acuity, and led to a growing number of calls from his Democratic allies to withdraw from the race. 

He said in the BET interview that he made a "serious mistake in the whole debate," but remained defiant about requests to step aside. The 81-year-old president portrayed his age as a strength, while tacitly admitting that he had originally intended to serve only one term before passing the torch to a younger leader. 

"When I originally ran, you may remember Ed, I said I was going to be a transitional candidate, and I thought that I would be able to move from this and pass it on to someone else," the president said. "But I didn't anticipate things getting so, so, so divided. And quite frankly, I think the only thing age brings is a little bit of wisdom." 

"I think I've demonstrated that I know how to get things done for the country in spite of the fact that we were told we couldn't get it done," he continued. "But there's more to do, and I'm reluctant to walk away from that."

At the press conference earlier this month, Mr. Biden said he would reconsider his decision to stay in the race if his staff told him, "There's no way you can win." But, he said, "no one is saying that." In his first interview after the debate, Mr. Biden told ABC News he would consider ending his campaign "if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that." He added, "the Lord Almighty is not coming down."

In the BET interview, Mr. Biden also warned about what Trump's reelection would mean for women's reproductive rights. The president vowed to restore abortion protections after the Supreme Court's decision in 2022 to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

"How can you be assured that you'll be able to do that?" Gordon asked. 

"The Supreme Court did it. Trump appoints Supreme Court [justices] with expressed purpose of doing it," Mr. Biden said, adding, "They're going to probably be two more appointments to the court. There's probably two people [who are] going to resign, or retire. Just imagine if he has two more appointments on that, what that means forever."

Mr. Biden is currently considering proposals to reform the Supreme Court, including measures to establish term limits for justices and an enforceable ethics code.

In:
• Supreme Court of the United States
• Joe Biden
• 2024 Elections

Caitlin Yilek

Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.

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