6 takeaways from President Joe Biden’s high-stakes ABC interview

Washington (CNN) — A defiant President Joe Biden on Friday& downplayed his poor performance in last week’s debate in what had become a high-stakes interview on ABC, as questions swirled over the future of his candidacy.During his interview with anchor George Stephanopoulos, Biden shot down any notion of dropping from the ticket while also offering shifting excuses for his poor performance.The conversation was Biden’s first televised interview since his debate performance, a key moment for his political future as a mounting list of Democrats – lawmakers, donors and voters – express concerns about the viability of his candidacy.Here are six takeaways from Biden’s interview with ABC News. The president said in the interview that he was “sick” and “feeling terrible” before the debate. Asked whether it was a bad episode or a sign of a more serious condition, Biden dismissed those concerns.“It was a bad episode. No indication of any serious condition. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing, and I had a bad night,” he said.In the interview, Biden gave more details about how he was feeling at the time of the debate, saying he was fatigued from illness and had even been tested for Covid-19....