Biden blames foreign travel for debate debacle, says he almost fell asleep on stage | 2 July 2024 | Joe Biden on Tuesday blamed foreign travel for his poor debate performance, saying that he almost fell asleep on the stage last week. "I wasn't very smart. I decided to travel around the world a couple of times...shortly before the debate," he said while talking to donors at a fundraiser in Virginia. "I didn’t listen to my staff...and then I almost fell asleep on stage." Biden was in Camp David for debate prep for a whole week before it, traveling there on June 20. He left Camp David on the morning of June 27 to travel to Atlanta for the debate. He returned from a trip to Italy for the Group of Seven summit on June 14, six days before heading to Camp David. Before the trip to Italy, he traveled to France for the D-Day anniversary, which is on June 6.