ABC News’ Diane Sawyer sat down with President Barack Obama for his first interview since last week’s debate with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. According to Sawyer, polls showed that 72 percent of viewers believed Romney won the debate and Obama supporters are now questioning why the President didn’t seem to “show up and fight.”
“Governor Romney had a good night, I had a bad night,” President Obama said. “It’s not the first time I’ve had a bad night. But I think what’s important is the fundamentals of what this race is about haven’t changed.”
Obama said that Romney made a good sales pitch, however the product he is selling is not going to work. “Govenor Romney went through a lot of trouble to try to hide what his positions are because he knows that those ideas have been rejected, they won’t work,” he said. “If he is making an honest presentation about what he’s proposed he will lose because the American people are not going to go back there.”
Sawyer then addressed the Romney campaign’s claims that the President’s lackluster performance was not about style but an administration that seems tired. In response, President Obama drew parallels from his performance to his experiences as athlete in his youth.
“If you have a bad game you just move on. You look forward to the next one and it makes you that much more determined,” he said. “The difference between this and sports is the stakes are so high.”
The President said there is no doubt that he can make a better case and this is why he is looking forward to the next presidential debate on Tuesday, October 16.
As for the vice presidential debate, President Obama said he has no worries about Vice President Joe Biden’s performance. “I just think Joe needs to be Joe” he said. “Congressman Ryan is a smart and effective speaker, but his ideas are the wrong ones, and Joe understands that.”
The Vice Presidential debate kicks off tonight from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky at 9 p.m.
Check out the full video of the interview below.