MADISON, Wis. President Joe Biden said Friday that he didnt think his candidacy was faltering as badly as perceived after his first 2024 presidential debate against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump .

In his first sit-down interview since the June 27 debate, Biden told ABC News George Stephanopoulos that he didnt believe the polling on his standing in the campaign tells the whole story, and he denied that his allies in the Democratic Party would definitively call for him to step down.

Do you really believe youre not behind right now? Stephanopoulos asked Biden.

Biden suggested that polls, which show Trump with a substantial post-debate lead , arent fully accurate. All the pollsters I talk to tell me its a toss-up, Biden said.

Similarly, he denied that allies would view his campaign as a liability for the Democratic Party. If you are told reliably from your allies, from your friends and supporters in the Democratic Party, in the House, in the Senate that theyre concerned youre going to lose the House and in the Senate if you stay in, what will you do? Stephanopoulos asked.

Im not going to answer that question, Biden replied. Its not going to happen.

The presidents interview with ABC came at an incredibly high-stakes moment for his reelection campaign. The reason Biden did it at all is because hes on clean-up duty after a disastrous debate last week with Trump, which prompted a Democratic crisis of faith and concerns about Biden as a viable candidate. While a few Democrats have already moved to call for Biden to withdraw his candidacy, the majority of the party establishment seems to be reserving formal judgment as Biden does damage control.

But he has weeks, if not days, to prove to shaky Democratic Party operatives and supporters that he can do better that he is better than he was during Fridays debate.

Biden stumbled through the 90-minute debate but particularly struggled in the beginning, when he appeared to lose his train of thought in response to a relatively easy question about the national debt. He mixed up trillions, billions and millions, rambled about health care and making people eligible for something hes done for the COVID, and then, as the microphone was about to be cut off, confusingly declared, We finally beat Medicare.

It got worse. The president was handed a question on what should have been a slam-dunk issue for him, abortion, and for some reason he pivoted to talking about a woman murdered by an immigrant, handing Trump an easy line of attack against the presidents border policies.

Bidens appearance was troubling as well. His voice was raspy and weak, which made him hard to understand. He mouth often hung slightly open, his gaze fixed on something.

The presidents performance gave a boost to Trump, who delivered more forceful responses and could more or less articulate complete sentences. But per usual, Trump lied constantly about big and little things , without being checked by the moderators. And he came to the debate as a deeply flawed, if not scary, contender for the presidency: a twice-impeached convicted felon known for his ugly attacks and authoritarian plans for a second term.