Question Time Biden Touts His Record, But The Doubts Refuse To Go Away

In the shadow of the Republican national convention in Milwaukee, where Donald Trump officially became the party's nominee, two days after surviving an attempt on his life, Joe Biden was still confronting a question he thought he'd answered: will he be the Democratic nominee in November? "1,000%," the president said in an interview, which aired on Monday but was recorded before a would-be assassin shot at Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania last Saturday. In the roughly 36 hours that followed, the presidential contest was suspended.

- Lauren Gambino

Biden condemned the attack as "sick". He called Trump to let him know he and the first lady were praying for him. Then, on Sunday, Biden addressed the nation from the Oval Office, pleading with Americans in a heartfelt speech to "lower the temperature".

The moment played to Biden's strengths as a compassionate leader determined to overcome political tribalism. But on Monday, Biden faced many of the same doubts and weaknesses that have dogged his reelection campaign since the start.

"I'm old," Biden conceded in an interview with NBC News's Lester Holt, that took place and aired on Monday. "But I'm only three years older than Trump, number one. And number two, my mental acuity has been pretty damn good. I've gotten more done than any president has in a long, long time ... I'm willing to be judged on that."

But many of Biden's verbal miscues and stumbles remain.