Interviewing Joe Biden was “the saddest thing” because the president seemed confused and “couldn’t finish his sentences”, a former ESPN host has said.
Sage Steele told comedian Bill Maher on his “Club Ransom” podcast that she interviewed Biden back in March 2021 for a pre-recorded segment ahead of MLB’s Opening Day that year.
But she said the president, who has faced questions ahead of the presidential election over his age and ability to serve a second White House term, “struggled” and said “trailed off” on some topics.
The former ESPN host said she interviewed Biden via satellite, noting she had to stall the chief executive as they waited for technical issues to be resolved.
She said: “So I had to, like, BS. I had to chitchat, waiting for us to start rolling.”
Steele could not see the president as his aides decided to keep a lens cover over the camera “until the last second, but you can hear and we’re chitchatting”.
The former ESPN host said on the podcast: “So I can hear him and he goes, ‘What is this for? Wait — what’s her name?’
“I was going, ‘Oh my God!’ And then [an aide] said, ‘SportsCenter, ESPN.’ And he goes, ‘Oh, OK.'”
Biden then began to tell Steele about his football career, explaining how he was a standout halfback and wide receiver.
The president also briefly played football as a freshman at the University of Delaware.
Steele – noting she could still not see him – said: “And so he started to tell football stories of his greatness.
“He goes, ‘I have the best hands.’ What do you say to that?”
“And here’s the saddest thing — his voice just trailed off. He said, ‘I was good,’ and then he went silent, and he goes …, ‘Uh, never mind.’
“I thought it was so sad because I realized that’s why he was in the basement during the whole election cycle — because even then he couldn’t finish his sentences, he struggled.
She added: “So forget about politics. I don’t care, I didn’t vote for him. However, that made me sad.”
The former ESPN host said earlier in her podcast appearance: “The human aspect of what we’re witnessing right now with him, to me, is heartbreaking.
“And it’s inexcusable by the family when you knew during the election.”
The latest criticisms of Biden come with the president giving a blunt six-word reply after being pressed by journalists asking him who the next Speaker of the House of Representatives should be.
The 80-year-old was pressed about what he believed should happen next after the dramatic ousting of Kevin McCarthy, with one reporter asking him at a briefing: “What’s your advice to the next House speaker?”
Grinning as he left the briefing, Biden then turned and said in a video shared on X: “That’s above my pay grade.”
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