Biden gets very combative with NBC's Lester Holt for saying he 'looked confused' during debate

President Joe Biden repeatedly pushed back at NBC's Lester Holt in an interview, bristling when taking yet another round of questions about his debate disaster. 

Their sometimes caustic exchange including Holt relaying concerns by congressional Democrats who said of his performance: 'frankly ... you appeared to be confused.'

'Why don’t you guys ever talk about the 18 – 28 lies he told? Twenty-eight times it’s confirmed he lied in that debate,' Biden told Holt.

'I had a bad bad night. I wasn’t feeling well at all. I screwed up.'

It was one of several times he took on his interviewer, in a sit-down arranged by his team before Saturday's assassination attempt on Donald Trump. 

Holt pressed him on his unusual admission at a press conference that he hadn't seen the debate that caused a flood of Democratic defection. He said he had seen pieces of his performance.

'I didn’t have to see it – I was there,' he said, challenging Holt again.

'And by the way, seriously, you won’t answer the question, but why doesn’t the press talk about all the lies he told? 

Nor would he accept Holt's posture when the anchor asked him about Trump's proposition that they debate again before their next scheduled engagement in September to 'get back on the horse.'

'I’m on the horse. Where you been? I’ve done 22 major events' since the debate, he said, interacting with 'thousands of people. I’m on the horse.'

He also took on Holt and the media when asked about Trump's selection of Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate. Holt wanted to ask about what Vance has said about Biden. Biden wanted to talk about the things Vance said bashing Trump back in 2016. 

'See what he said about Trump. What’s with you guys? Come on man!'

Biden also spoke about the probe he has asked for into the Trump shooting. 

'I feel safe with the Secret Service,' he said.

'Sometime come and talk to me about what we should be talking about, okay? The issues.'

After being slow to try to focus his attacks on Trump in the debate, Biden made clear his calls for 'unity' and turning down the temperature won't mean backing off on things Trump has said and done.

'I’m not the guy that said I want to be a dictator on day one. I’m not the guy that refused to accept the outcome of the election. I’m not the guy who said that wouldn’t accept the outcome of this election automatically. You can’t only love your country when you win. And so the focus was on what he’s saying and, I mean, the idea,' said Biden, on a day when Trump's convention in Milwaukee played an ad of Biden repeatedly stumbling while boarding Air Force One.