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Irish Star

Journalist's question is 'too painful' for Biden to answer leaving him 'physically wounded'

Joe Biden didn't hold back from slamming Trump's foreign policy while opening up about whether the timing for him stepping down from the race was a key part of Trump's eventual victory

Biden BBC interview
Biden said quitting the presidential race was a 'difficult decision' (Image: BBC)

Joe Biden was asked a "painful" question in his first major post-presidential TV interview leaving him appearing 'physically wounded,' a body language expert has revealed.


Biden opened up to BBC's Nick Robinson on Radio 4’s “Today” program about the “difficult decision” to leave the U.S. presidential race in 2024, while slamming Trump's foreign policy since taking over in the White House.

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Biden pulled out four months before Election Day to allow former Vice President Kamala Harris to challenge Trump, a move criticized as too late by many, but Biden suggested this “would(n’t) have mattered.”

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Speaking to Irish Star, body language expert Judi James revealed the question that shook Biden, derailing an otherwise strong interview.

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Biden BBC interview
Biden called Trump's negotiations with Russia a 'modern-day appeasement' (Image: BBC)

Ms James said: "Asked 'Did you leave it too late' to leave the presidential campaign, he performs a deep intake of breath and pulls his body back as though physically wounded by the question.


"He looks away and his eyelids flutter in a series of cut-offs before he looks down altogether to hide his eye expression from view. His words become labored and he reverts to the plural: 'We left at a time...' to imply there was no individual reason based on his health."

She continued: "His wince as he goes into a word salad and slows almost to a complete stop seems to indicate this is still something too painful for him to face despite the fact he has opinions to share about Trump's behavior and the state of the US as a result."

In another part of the interview, the ex-Pres said Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to give up territory to Russia amounts to “ modern-day appeasement,” a historically fraught term that refers to a failed effort to stop the Nazis from annexing land in Europe in the 1930s.


The interview was with BBC's Nick Robinson
The interview was with BBC's Nick Robinson

Analyzing this part of the interview, Judi James said: "Asked about is it 'modern day appeasement?' Biden repeats the phrase in agreement that yes this is 'modern day appeasement'. Asked an open question though, like 'What did you think about the scenes between Trump and Zelenski in the Oval office?' he performs a long pause, looking down with his lips clamped, before giving a deflected answer."

Trump has long dismissed the war in Ukraine as a waste of lives and American taxpayer money. Early in his presidency, Trump ordered a pause in American aid to Ukraine — then resumed it. The two countries last week signed an agreement granting American access to Ukraine’s vast mineral resources — a return on investment, Trump suggested, that could pave the way for more U.S. aid.


He has also said that Crimea, a strategic peninsula along the Black Sea in southern Ukraine that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, “will stay with Russia.”

Biden said he worried that relations between the U.S. and Europe was eroding under Trump, with NATO member nations reconsidering whether they trust the U.S.

“Europe is going to lose confidence in the certainty of America and the leadership of America,” Biden told the BBC. The continent’s leaders, he added, were asking: “‘Can I rely on the United States? Are they going to be there?’”

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