President Joe Biden suggested he could accept a loss to Donald Trump, so long as he did his “goodest,” during his interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos on Friday evening.
Update: New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd has called out the Biden White House for demanding ABC News change the word “goodest” in its interview transcript to “good as,” which, as Dowd points out, makes Biden’s sentence sound like “gobbledygook.” With the forced revision, the transcript reads, “I’ll feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the good as job as I know I can do, that’s what this is about.” The original story continues below:
During the interview, Stephanopoulos told Biden that he had “never seen a president” who had a 36 percent approval rating “get reelected.” Stephanopoulos pressed Biden about how he would feel if he stayed in the race and Trump ended up being elected.
“Mr. President, I’ve never seen a president [with] 36 percent approval get reelected,” Stephanopoulos told Biden.
Biden responded to Stephanopoulos by stating that did not believe that was what his approval rating was.
“And if you stay in and Trump is elected and everything you’re warning about comes to pass, how will you feel in January?” Stephanopoulos questioned Biden.
“I’ll feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do, that’s what this is about,” Biden answered. “Look, George. Think of it this way. You’ve heard me say this before. I think the United States and the world is at an inflection point when the things that happen in the next several years are gonna determine what the next six, seven decades are gonna be like.”
The word “goodest” instead of “best” is incorrect grammar. While many English speakers use it ironically for humorous effect, Biden did not appear to realize he was making an error.
Many people were quick to take to social media to point out that Biden’s used the word “goodest,” while others stated they heard Biden saying something entirely different.
“The more you watch it, the worse it gets,” Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) wrote in a post on X. “This has to be calculated to get him out.”
“Is this the ‘goodest’ Biden interview or what?” New Mexico state Rep. John Block (R) wrote in a post on X.
“I’m hearing ‘the good as job as I know I can do’ which isn’t exactly great English either but a little bit different,” Frank J. Fleming, an applied AI consultant with the Daily Wire wrote in a post.
“ABC’s official transcript has Biden saying ‘goodest,'” Alex Pfeiffer, the communications director for the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. wrote in a post.
Biden’s interview with Stephanopoulos came a week after he took part in a presidential debate with former President Donald Trump, leaving many Democrats, donors, and voters questioning if Biden would be able to serve another term and panicking.
While Biden has continued to face calls from donors and Democrats to withdraw from the presidential race, Biden and his campaign have maintained that he is not dropping out.
Editor’s Note: When first published, this article incorrectly claimed President Joe Biden “invented” the word “goodest.” The word has been in usage in English-speaking cultures since at least the 1800s. In this instance, Biden did not notice he was using incorrect grammar, but he is not the first person ever to say the word.
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