A high-stakes moment for the president could also be the most consequential interview of the star anchor’s career.
With his poll numbers dropping and Democrats writing off his candidacy, Joseph R. Biden Jr. sat down with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News in the hope that a major TV interview could help revive a presidential campaign that appeared all but finished.
The date was Feb. 9, 2020. Mr. Biden would finish fifth in the New Hampshire primary two days later — but he then staged a remarkable comeback, soaring back to win South Carolina and ultimately fighting his way to the presidency.
Four and a half years later, as Mr. Biden faces mounting calls to withdraw from the presidential race, he and his advisers are once again gambling on an anchor who has interviewed him at some of the most dire moments of his political career.
Mr. Stephanopoulos’s high-stakes interview on Friday with Mr. Biden is set to be taped in the afternoon in Madison, Wis., and broadcast in its entirety at 8 p.m. Eastern. For many of the president’s supporters, the interview is considered the president’s best hope to slow the questions about his mental and physical fitness in the wake of a cataclysmic performance at last week’s debate against former President Donald J. Trump. For Mr. Biden’s doubters, however, even a solid performance with Mr. Stephanopoulos may not be enough to erase the dire impression left with the public from the debate.
Friday’s interview is likely to last 15 to 25 minutes, according to three people familiar with the negotiations, who requested anonymity to share details of private discussions between ABC and Mr. Biden’s aides. While presidential advisers routinely haggle over the framework for any major interview, the exact length often depends on what transpires during the taping. Mr. Biden could extend the interview of his own accord, or Mr. Stephanopoulos might press for more time to ask additional questions.
ABC has pledged to air the interview in full and without edits, meaning that any attempt by a Biden aide to cut off the conversation early would be captured by cameras and probably shown to viewers. The prime-time special, “One on One with President Biden,” has been previewed to affiliates as lasting for 30 minutes, but it could be extended.
