Biden hints at withdrawing from presidential race over medical issues

ANKARA

US President Joe Biden, in an interview set to air on BET news, hinted that he might consider dropping out of the presidential race if his doctors advised him due to a "medical condition."

This statement comes as Democrats put increasing pressure on him to step down.

"If there had (muffled) some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if the doctors, came to me, said, 'you got this problem and that problem.' But I made a serious mistake in the whole debate," Biden admitted to BET's Ed Gordon during the interview.

This interview was conducted before the White House announced late Wednesday that Biden had tested positive for COVID-19, saying his symptoms were mild.

Biden has given various reasons over time about what might lead him to leave the race.

Following a poor debate performance, he told ABC News on July 5 that only the "Lord Almighty" could persuade him to step down.

When asked by ABC's George Stephanopoulos if he would step aside if convinced he could not defeat Donald Trump, Biden replied, "Well, it depends on... if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that."

A week ago, during a news conference, Biden asserted that he would stay in the race unless his aides told him he had no chance of winning a second term. "No, unless they came back and said, 'There’s no way you can win.' No one is saying that. No poll says that," Biden told reporters.

In the BET interview, Biden said initially he intended to be a "transitional candidate," passing on leadership but felt compelled to continue due to the current political climate.

"When I originally ran, I said I was gonna be a transitional candidate, and I thought that I'd be able to move from this just pass it on to someone else. But I didn't anticipate things getting so, so, so divided and quite frankly, and I think the only thing age brings a little bit of wisdom," he said.

"And 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. But there's more to do, and I'm reluctant to walk away from that," he added.

Earlier on Tuesday, Biden expressed strong support for Vice President Kamala Harris, endorsing her as a "great vice president" and stating that she is capable of serving as "president of the United States" during his speech at the NAACP national convention in Las Vegas.

Biden's diagnosis was earlier announced by the president of a Latino civil rights advocacy group that the president was due to address Wednesday afternoon.