In his first televised interview since a poor debate showing against Donald Trump sparked intraparty calls for him to drop out of the election, President Joe Biden said that only "the Lord Almighty" could make him leave the race for the White House.

The debate, he repeatedly said, was just a bad night.

"It was a bad episode. No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn't listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and — and a bad night," Biden told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos.

Stephanopuolos then asked why Biden, who spent nearly a week at Camp David preparing ahead of the debate, was exhausted. 

"Because I was sick. I was feeling terrible. Matter of fact, the docs with me, I asked if they did a COVID test, and we’re trying to figure out what’s wrong," Biden said. "They did a test to see whehter or not I had some infection, virus. I didn’t, just had a really bad cold."

He repeatedly asserted that his current poor standing in polls and approval ratings will translate to a loss, and a Trump victory, in November. The polls and prognosticators had been wrong before, even recently, he said. ("The Red Wave was coming. Before the vote, I said, 'that’s not going to happen' … we did better than almost any incumbent president has ever done," Biden said of the 2022 midterm election.)

Biden, when asked, said he believes that he has the mental and physical capacity to continue serving as president until 2028.

"I wouldn’t be running if I didn’t think I did," Biden said. When pressed, asked if he was being honest with himself, he doubled- down with a firm "yes."

Trump, he said, is a "pathological liar," a "congenital liar." ("You ever seen anything Trump did that benefitted somebody else, not him?" Biden asked rhetorically. "It’s the guy who wants to undo every single thing I’ve done. Every single — every single thing.")

Historically a self-assured and confident speaker, Biden’s debate performance was shockingly out of character. His voice was quiet and hoarse. At times, his answers were halting and trepedacious. In other spots, he would trip over himself and misspeak, as when he asserted that "we beat Medicare." (A White House spokesperson would later clarify that he intended to say "we beat Big Pharma.")

His strongest moments came when he attacked Trump directly, but they were few and far between.

By comparison, Trump’s performance was a showcase of who he has been over the last eight years. While his answers were meandering  — he offered numerous falsehoods, avoided questions, repeatedly attacked immigrants and sounded racist dogwhistles when he said that migrants were taking "black jobs" and "Hispanic jobs" — he sounded composed. Even in his attempts to dodge moderators as they asked if he would accept the results of the election, no matter the outcome, he appeared to come off as confident. 

If a debate is solely a contest of optics — and in this case, it may well have been — Biden was outmatched to such a vast degree that members of the Democratic Party have asked him to step aside.

Thus far, four House Democrats have publicly called on Biden to step aside or step down from the race. The Washington Post reported earlier Friday that Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., is organizing Democratic U.S. Senators to convince Biden to step out of the election. A growing chorus of wealthy party donors, newspaper boards and former elected officials are calling for him to leave the race as well.

Even close allies and surrogates are concerned, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said that it’s a "legitimate question to say, is this an episode, or is this a condition?" (Biden said that he's been in contact with his close allies, like Pelosi and Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., who have offered their support to him.)

When asked if he’s seen the fallout from the polls, or the reports of discontent in the Democratic Party or from Senate or House Democrats, Biden responded curtly.

"I’ve seen it from the press."

When asked if he would submit to an independent medical evaluation, including neurological and cognitive tests with publicly-released results, Biden dodged the question three times, saying "I have a cognitive test every single day," detailing his schedule and workload.

Stephanopoulos asked Biden if it’s worth the risk to continue to run with the margins so narrow.

"I don’t think anybody’s more qualified to be president or win this race," Biden said.

Stephanopoulos then posed another question to Biden: if he could be convinced that he cannot defeat Donald Trump, would he stand down?

"Well it depends. If the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might just do that," Biden said.