President Joe Biden responded to widespread criticism of his exit from Afghanistan after visiting the 9/11 memorial for Flight 93 in Pennsylvania.
“I get it, a lot more direct attacks on me … I’m a big boy, I’ve been doing this a long time,” Biden said to reporters during his visit.
The president appeared keenly aware of his plummeting polling numbers after his disastrous exit from Afghanistan that led to the deaths of 13 service members.
Biden reminded the media that 77 percent of Americans supported the idea, even though they did not agree with the way that he did it.
“It’s hard to explain to anybody, how else could we get out,” he said, arguing that it would have been a difficult effort no matter what he did.
He repeated that his agenda was still popular, despite his poor job approval ratings.
“As down as my numbers have dropped, you’ve seen that my package is overwhelmingly popular,” he said.
Biden called for a return to unity in the country, praising a speech by former President George Bush earlier in the day about the character of America and the threat of domestic terrorism.
When reporters asked how to return the country to a feeling of unity, Biden suggested he could do it.
“By being honest when I make a mistake, by being straightforward, telling people exactly what I want to do, letting them know that there’s no hiding the ball,” he said.
Biden also appeared aware that Trump had talked about entering the boxing ring with him and made the sign of the cross.
“I should be so lucky,” he said.