Requested About Age, Biden Says He Is aware of ‘Extra Than the Huge Majority of Folks’

In his first interview since saying that he would search a second time period, President Biden sought to downplay considerations about his age by saying he was essentially the most skilled individual to have ever run for the presidency.

“I’ve acquired a hell of a number of knowledge and know greater than the overwhelming majority of individuals,” Mr. Biden instructed the MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle in an interview that aired on Friday night time. “And I’m extra skilled than anyone that’s ever run for the workplace. And I feel I’ve confirmed myself to be honorable in addition to additionally efficient.”

Mr. Biden, who can be 86 on the finish of a second time period ought to he win, has in latest days tried to reassure voters about his age, presenting it as an asset relatively than a hindrance to working. In the interview, he additionally stated that Vice President Kamala Harris “hasn’t gotten the credit score she deserves,” and he promoted her previous work as lawyer basic of California and as a senator.

The wide-ranging interview confirmed a president searching for to make his case for re-election amid looming potential crises, together with a deployment of American troops to the nation’s southern border and a federal authorities that’s doubtlessly weeks away from defaulting on its debt.

Mr. Biden stated he was not but ready to invoke a clause within the 14th Amendment that may compel the federal authorities to proceed issuing new debt ought to the federal government run out of money, an occasion that Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen warned this week may come as quickly as June 1. “I’ve not gotten there but,” he instructed Ms. Ruhle.

Republicans are demanding main spending cuts earlier than elevating the debt restrict. But Mr. Biden has repeatedly stated that he won’t negotiate over the debt ceiling, declaring that it was raised a number of instances below former President Donald J. Trump with out challenge. In his interview, he reiterated that he was prepared to barter on federal spending — so long as it was separate from debt-ceiling negotiations.

“This just isn’t your father’s Republican Party,” Mr. Biden stated, repeating claims he has made earlier than about extremists inside the G.O.P. “This is a unique, a unique group. And I feel that we’ve to make it clear to the American those that I’m ready to barter intimately with their price range. How a lot are you going to spend? How a lot are you going to tax? Where can we minimize?”

Mr. Biden is meant to satisfy with Republican and Democratic leaders on the White House subsequent week to debate a path ahead. He will want a negotiating accomplice in Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who final week marshaled a invoice to boost the debt ceiling whereas slicing spending and unraveling main components of Mr. Biden’s home agenda. The laws is taken into account useless on arrival, nevertheless it has given Mr. McCarthy the chance to say he has performed his half.

The president stated within the interview that Mr. McCarthy was an “sincere man” however that he had “offered away all the things” to the far-right wing of his occasion to grow to be House speaker.

“He’s agreed to issues that possibly he believes, however are simply excessive,” Mr. Biden stated.

In the interview, Mr. Biden defended his determination to ship 1,500 troops to the border with Mexico, saying that they might not be there to “implement the regulation” however to “liberate the border brokers that must be on the border.”

He additionally stated that his son Hunter, who’s the topic of a federal investigation into his enterprise dealings, was harmless and that he didn’t suppose his son’s authorized issues would hurt his presidency.

“My son has performed nothing flawed,” Mr. Biden stated. “I belief him. I place confidence in him. And it impacts my presidency by making me really feel happy with him.”