“I almost fell asleep” –

A defense that seems like another own goal. The President of the United States, Joe Biden, admitted that his performance during the presidential debate with Donald Trump last Thursday was not the best, blaming it on the jet lag accumulated due to two missions in Europe in June, including the one in Puglia for the G7. Biden has been heavily criticized for the condition in which he appeared at the debate. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre had to deny that he suffers from Alzheimer’s or senile dementia or a degenerative disease, while the former Speaker of the House, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, said that it is “legitimate” to raise questions about Biden’s ability to do the job of president.

Referring to the debate with Trump at a campaign event in McLean, Virginia, Biden acknowledged that it wasn’t his “finest night.” “I wasn’t very smart,” the president said, speaking at a fundraiser. “I decided to fly around the world a couple of times, about 100 time zones before the debate. I didn’t listen to my staff, I came back and almost fell asleep on stage,” he continued. “That’s not an excuse, but it’s an explanation.”

Biden traveled to France and Italy over two weeks last month, flying from Puglia to Los Angeles to attend a fundraiser with former President Barack Obama before returning to Washington the next day. But he then spent six days at Camp David preparing for the June 27 debate, likely enough time to get over jet lag. White House officials instead attributed Biden’s sluggish performance during the one-on-one with Trump to a cold.