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ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, who interviewed Joe Biden last week in a pivotal moment in the president's political career, was recorded telling a passerby on the street that he doesn't think Biden can serve another term in office.
A video of the interaction, which TMZ published Tuesday, shows a person surreptitiously recording Stephanopoulos on a street in New York City as he approaches the veteran journalist and asks if he thinks Biden should step down.
Stephanopoulos' voice is muddled in the audio, but he seems to say: "I don't think he can serve four more years."
The comment was a remarkable slipup from Stephanopoulos, who just days earlier had landed a high-stakes interview with Biden as the octogenarian president struggled to quiet internal party opposition to his nomination. The interview was widely seen as a make-or-break moment for Biden following his lousy debate performance, but it did little to stem concerns about the president's age and fitness for office.
Stephanopoulos later confirmed the encounter. “Earlier today I responded to a passerby. I shouldn’t have,” he said in a statement from ABC News. The network distanced itself from Stephanopoulos’ comment, saying the anchor “expressed his own point of view and not the position of ABC News.”
Stephanopoulos, who began his journalism career in the late 1990s after serving as White House communications director under President Bill Clinton, drew praise for gently but steadily pressing Biden last week on his mental acuity and chances at re-election.
Biden has adamantly refused to step down from the Democratic presidential ticket. In a letter to congressional Democrats on Monday, he dismissed calls for him to withdraw, telling his colleagues: “The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it’s time for it to end.”