President Joe Biden said Friday he is "most qualified" to face off against former President Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 general election, while dismissing last week's poor debate performance as a "bad episode." Appearing in a high-stakes interview with ABC News, Biden brushed aside concerns about his mental and physical fitness, but did not agree to undergo an independent medical assessment that includes cognitive tests and release the results to the American public. The interview came as pressure has been mounting for the 81-year-old president to step aside following his woeful performance during last week's presidential debate, where he lost his train of thought and tripped over words. "I convinced myself of two things," Biden said during the interview conducted by George Stephanopoulos of ABC News. "I'm the most qualified person to beat him, and I know how to get things done." Biden also rejected reports of his lapses in the last several months. "Can I run the 100 in 10 flat? No. But I'm still in good shape," he said. Stephanopoulos repeatedly asked the president whether he is willing to subject himself to an independent medical evaluation. Biden rejected it, stressing he gets a cognitive test "every single day." "Watch me between ... there's a lot of time left in this campaign. There's over 125 days," he said. The president used the interview to attack Trump, lambasting the presumptive Republican nominee as a "pathological liar." Asked if he will stand down should he be convinced he cannot defeat Trump, Biden reiterated his desire to stay in the race. "It depends on ... if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that," he said. Responding to a question about whether he can govern effectively for another four-year term, Biden catalogued a series of his policy achievements, including attracting investment from South Korea and getting some 50 nations to support Ukraine. "I fly to South Korea. I convince them to invest in the United States billions of dollars," he said. "Now we have tens of billions of dollars being invested in the United States making us back in a position we're gonna own that industry again." The Democratic Party is set to hold its national convention to formally announce its standard-bearer in Chicago next month. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit next week is expected to be another chance for Biden to prove his fitness and underscore that he is up for the job. A slew of multilateral and bilateral summit meetings are set to take place during the summit that will be held in Washington from Tuesday through Thursday. Source: Yonhap News Agency