President Joe Biden indicated he would be fine losing to Trump as long as he put up a good fight.
The 81-year-old president made the comments during his first post-debate interview on Friday.
Biden continues to present a defiant front even as concerns about his candidacy mount.
President Joe Biden suggested he would be OK losing to former President Donald Trump in November "as long as I gave it my all" — undercutting the heart of his 2024 presidential platform as concerns about his candidacy continue to grow.
On Friday, the 81-year-old Biden sat for his first interview since his disastrous debate performance last week, speaking with ABC News's George Stephanopoulos and attempting to assuage doubts about his fitness for office, including increasing anxiety from within his own party.
Biden has long positioned himself as the best bet to protect American democracy from another four years of Trump. In interviews and stump speeches, Biden paints a picture of chaos and collapse should Trump take the White House again. Biden's campaign has explicitly accused Trump of being in the race only for himself, meanwhile framing Biden as being a candidate for the people.
But near the end of his Friday interview, Biden gave an answer that seemed to contradict his greater-good narrative.
"If you stay in and Trump is elected and everything you're warning about comes to pass, how will you feel in January?" Stephanopoulos asked.
"I'll feel as long as I gave it my all, and I did as good a job as I know I can do, that's what this is about," Biden responded.
.@GStephanopoulos: And if you stay in and Trump is elected and everything you're warning about comes to pass, how will you feel in January?
Biden: I'll feel, as long as I gave it my all, and I did as good a job as I know I can do, that's what this is about. pic.twitter.com/K3Kyfv6ZgM
The response appeared as definitive an insight as any into Biden's stubborn mindset amid mounting calls for him to drop out of the race.
Four House Democrats and a growing number of liberal donors have publicly called for Biden's replacement. While some reports have suggested Biden is privately weighing whether he can save his reelection bid, he has been firm in his public promise to stay in the race.
Denial proved a prevailing theme throughout Biden's interview with ABC. He chalked up his debate performance to "a bad night," repeatedly dodged questions about his age and cognitive abilities, and disputed poll numbers that show him points behind Trump.
When asked what it would take for him to drop out of the race, Biden attempted to duck the question with a joke, telling Stephanopoulos that he would only step down if "the Lord Almighty" himself came down and told him he couldn't win.
President Joe Biden called his recent debate performance a "bad night," but maintained that he's the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos.
He acknowledged that his debate against Donald Trump was a "bad night."
But Biden denied he's facing more calls to step down from his campaign.
President Joe Biden appears to be in denial with just how seriously his recent debate performance against Donald Trump has hurt his 2024 campaign.
In an interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that aired Friday, Biden was confronted with questions about the fallout of his stumbling debate performance: polling that shows Trump with an increasing lead, voters and Democratic colleagues calling for Biden to step aside, and, to top it all off, an already abysmal approval rating of 36%.
To that, Biden responded: Not in my world.
On the issue of falling support shown in recent polls, Biden questioned the accuracy of the data and leaned on internal polling that he claimed still put the 2024 election at a "toss-up."
"You think polling data is accurate as it used to be?" Biden said.
The president also disagreed when Stephanopoulos pointed out his low approval rating. "Mr. President, I've never seen a president of 36% approval get re-elected," Stephanopoulos said.
"Well, I don't believe that's my approval rating — that's not what our polls show," Biden responded.
On the growing calls from Democratic lawmakers for the president to step down, Biden said he's met with many colleagues and none of them have advised him to suspend his campaign.
"They're not going to do that," Biden told Stephanopoulos when asked if he would consider stepping out of the race if people close to him asked him to do so. So far, four House Democrats have called for Biden to drop out, and one Democratic senator is reportedly trying to organize his colleagues to push for Biden to withdraw from the race.
Biden repeatedly said in the interview that the only person who could get him to step down is the "Lord almighty."
All of the warning signs that have appeared since the June 27 debate were merely propped up by the press, Biden said.
A spokesperson for the Biden campaign told Business Insider that the president's interview with Stephanopoulos was just one of many moments that showcased that Biden is the right candidate to go against Trump.
Biden did acknowledge that he didn't perform well during his debate against Trump.
But the president said the evening was simply a "bad night" for him and that he failed to "trust his instincts" when debating a against a "pathological liar."
"Can I run the 100 in 10 flat? No," Biden said. "But I'm still in good shape."
President Joe Biden has remained clear that he will not listen to calls to get him to drop out of the race.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
President Joe Biden said only God might convince him to drop out of the 2024 race.
Biden made frequent defiant statements during a hotly anticipated interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos.
The president is still trying to calm nerves after his disastrous debate performance.
President Joe Biden on Friday was unmoved by the growing number of members of Congress and megadonors who have called on him to drop out. He said only a higher power could cause him to change course.
"If the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that," Biden told ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos when asked if he would step aside if he was no longer the best Democrat to beat former President Donald Trump.
Biden flashed his trademark stubbornness during his 22-minute interview with Stephanopoulos. The interview was designed to calm jittery Democrats, some of whom have pushed for Biden to step aside after his disastrous debate last week.
The president is known for invoking the phrase, "Judge me by the alternative, not the almighty," regarding how commentators should view his candidacy. But on Friday, Biden further suggested that only divine intervention could lead to him stepping aside.
"Look, I'm mean if the Lord Almighty came down and said, 'Joe get out of the race,' I would get out of the race," Biden said at another point. "The Lord Almighty is not coming down."
At that point, Stephanopoulos was trying to ask Biden how the president would respond if either Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer or House Minority Leader Hakeem called on the president to drop out. Biden was clear that he believed that would never happen and that the hypothetical was unwarranted.
"I agree that the Lord Almighty is not going to come down," Stephanopoulos said. "But if you are told reliably from your allies, from your friends and allies in the Democratic Party in the House and the Senate that they are concerned that you are going to lose the House and Senate if you stay in, what will you do?"
Biden faced with a much more earthly consideration, simply declined to consider the possibility.
"I'm not going to answer that question," he said. "It's not going to happen."
President Joe Biden appeared Friday in his first interview since last week's debate with Donald Trump.
Donors and supporters saw the interview as key to addressing criticisms of Biden's poor debate.
Here's four things you need to know about it went.
All eyes were on ABC News on Friday when President Joe Biden appeared in his first interview since his catastrophic debate appearance last week.
Democratic donors and supporters of Biden saw the interview as key to addressing criticisms of his poor debate showing — in which Biden repeatedly fumbled his words and appeared to lose his train of thought.
Here's what you need to know about how Biden's post-debate interview went:
1. He's staying in the race
In response to the debate debacle, some major Democratic donors, including Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings and Disney heiress Abigail Disney, have pledged to withhold funding from the party until Biden drops out of the race.
Other once-loyal supporters, including four sitting House Democrats, have joined their calls for him to step aside.
While some reports indicate Biden has privately acknowledged that he might be unable to save his reelection bid, in his ABC News interview, he publicly reiterated his current plan to stay in the race.
"Are you sure you're being honest with yourself when you say you have the mental and physical capacity to serve another four years?" ABC's George Stephanopoulos pushed Biden.
"Yes, I am," the president responded. "Because George, last thing I want to do is not be able to meet that."
2. Biden called debate night a 'bad episode'
Biden called his poor showing on debate night a "bad episode," but he stressed his fumbled words and mangled answers were "no indication of any serious condition."
"I was exhausted," Biden told ABC News. "I didn't listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and — and a bad night."
Biden, currently 81-years-old, has long faced criticism over his age and fitness for office, which grew louder following the debate. His campaign has offered conflicting excuses for the sitting president's lackluster showing, including that he was sick, jetlagged, and poorly prepared for the event.
When Stephanopoulos pressed Biden, asking why spending nearly a week at Camp David wasn't enough recovery time from his travels to France to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Biden said he was sick.
"I was feeling terrible," Biden said. "Matter of fact the docs with me. I asked if they did a COVID test because they're trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn't. I just had a really bad cold."
3. The president seems to be considering his legacy
While he maintained that he plans to stay in the race for reelection — joking that he'd consider stepping down if "the Lord Almighty" asked him to — Biden, in several responses, appeared reflective about his debate performance and his presidential legacy more broadly.
"If I stopped now, I would go down in history as a pretty successful president," Biden said.
Biden said that "as long as I gave it my all," he will be OK.
"That's what this is about," Biden said.
Notably, Biden dodged questions about what he would do if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies asked him to step down.
4. Biden glossed over his dipping poll numbers
When pressed about his persistent slump in the polls, Biden was defiant, saying the data wasn't accurate.
"I remember them telling me the same thing in 2020 — I can't win. The polls show I can win," Biden said. "Before the vote, I said that's not going to happen: We're going to win."
When he won in 2020, Biden became the first US presidential candidate to secure more than 80 million votes. Biden referenced his historic victory in the interview, reiterating his intention to win again.
On social media, clips of the 22-minute interview drew immediate skepticism, if not outright condemnation, from many viewers.
Some lambasted ABC News for airing a pre-recorded version instead of a livestream, while others criticized Biden's responses and appearance during the interview.
"I feel no better," one Instagram user wrote in a comment. "I think this interview made the situation worse."
The initial response wasn't all negative, with some reiterating their support for Biden.
"I can appreciate that he's accepted responsibility," another Instagram user wrote. "He still has my vote. There's no room for any more errors IMO."
The first Democratic member of Congress to do so was Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas, who praised Biden's record of accomplishments but said an "authoritarian takeover" would come if former President Donald Trump won.
"Too much is at stake to risk a Trump victory — too great a risk to assume that what could not be turned around in a year, what was not turned around in the debate, can be turned around now," Doggett said. He later said on NBC that some of his House colleagues privately agreed with him.
On Wednesday, Doggett was joined by Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, who told the New York Times that the debate represented an "opportunity to look elsewhere."
"What he needs to do is shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat — and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race," said Grijalva.
Both men are in their mid-to-late 70s and represent solidly Democratic seats.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva became the second House Democrat to call for Biden to withdraw from the race.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
On Thursday, Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts joined them, telling a local radio affiliate that Biden should "step aside to let new leaders rise up and run against Donald Trump."
And on Friday, shortly before Biden's interview with ABC News was set to air, Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois said on MSBNC that Biden should "let someone else do this."
BREAKING: Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) calls on Biden to exit the race:
"Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else… pic.twitter.com/tnWOxja5lF
— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) July 5, 2024
Separately, two members of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition — Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington — said that they believe Biden will lose to Trump.
Golden went as far as to say that he is "OK" with Trump winning, saying he rejects the idea that Trump is a "unique threat to our democracy."
Democratic politicians who don't hold elected office have also called on Biden to step aside.
Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, one of Biden's competitors in 2020, said that Biden needed to "allow a stronger Democratic candidate to prevent a disastrous second Trump term.
Another 2020 Biden competitor, former Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, published an op-ed on Tuesday calling for Biden to be replaced with Vice President Kamala Harris.
An American Airlines flight was diverted this week after authorities said a 25-year-old man exposed himself and urinated in the airplane's aisle mid-flight.
CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images
A 25-year-old man exposed himself and peed in the aisle on an American Airlines flight, according to law enforcement.
Authorities said the man was arrested and charged with indecent exposure on July 3.
The incident is the latest in a long list of unruly passenger incidents on board commercial flights.
An American Airlines flight was diverted this week after authorities said a 25-year-old man exposed himself and urinated in the airplane's aisle mid-flight.
The Oregon man was arrested and charged with indecent exposure following the Wednesday incident, according to a press release from the US Attorney's Office for the Western District of New York.
American Airlines flight 3921, which was operated by Envoy Air, was traveling from Chicago to Manchester, New Hampshire, on July 3, the airline told Business Insider in a statement.
Crew members on board the aircraft later told authorities that the man exposed himself and urinated in the aisle of the plane, forcing the flight to divert from its original destination and land at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, according to the attorney's office.
Local law enforcement was called to the gate and took the man into custody, American Airlines said. The flight re-departed shortly after.
"We thank our team members for their professionalism and our customers for their understanding," a spokesperson for the airline said.
The man appeared in court on Wednesday and was released on his own recognizance, according to the attorney's office. The charge he faces carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison and a $5,000 charge.
The Wednesday incident is just the latest in an ever-growing list of unruly passenger incidents on commercial flights, which have spiked since the pandemic.
In December, a passenger aboard an Air New Zealand flight was fined after urinating into a cup during a deplaning delay. In 2023, a 21-year-old student was barred from future American Airlines flights after urinating on another passenger.
President Joe Biden appeared Friday in his first interview since last week's debate with Donald Trump.
Biden has been widely criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike for his poor debate performance.
In a preview of the interview, Biden said his gaffes were "no indication of any serious condition."
President Joe Biden said debate night was a "bad episode" on Friday, in a preview of his first interview since his catastrophic appearance last week.
Speaking with ABC News's George Stephanopoulos, 81-year-old Biden said his performance, while lackluster, was "no indication of any serious condition."
"I was exhausted," Biden said. "I didn't listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and — and a bad night."
Biden, who has long faced criticism over his age and fitness for office, is the subject of growing ire from Republicans and Democrats alike for his poor debate performance — in which he repeatedly fumbled his words and appeared to lose his train of thought.
The Biden campaign has offered conflicting excuses for the sitting president's lackluster showing, including that he was sick, jetlagged, and poorly prepared for the event.
In response to the tumult, some major Democratic donors, including Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings and Disney heiress Abigail Disney, have pledged to withhold funding from the party until Biden drops out of the race.
While some reports indicate Biden has privately acknowledged that he might be unable to save his reelection bid, he has publicly braved the criticism and declared his plan to stay in the race.
"I'm not letting one 90-minute debate wipe out three and a half years of work," Biden posted on X shortly before the ABC News interview aired. "I'm staying in the race, and I will beat Donald Trump."
Joe Biden and Donald Trump participate in a debate at the CNN Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Joe Biden and Donald Trump are both vying for the veteran vote as they seek a second term in office.
Biden and Trump both signed laws to expand veteran benefits: the PACT and Mission Acts, respectively.
Both acts were praised by veterans, but implementation faced challenges under each administration.
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have both sought to claim the mantle of veterans champion as each vies for a second term in office.
The campaign has often focused on the symbolic and intangible, such as Biden visiting a World War I cemetery during a recent trip to France that Trump opted against visiting during his tenure after reportedly deriding veterans in private, or Republicans hitting Biden for falsely claiming at last week's presidential debate that no US troops have died on his watch.
But both also have legislative track records from their first terms in office, as well as well-documented accounts of how the Department of Veterans Affairs functioned under their administrations, that could point to how a second term would play out.
Biden shepherded through the PACT Act, which has been described as the biggest expansion of veterans benefits in a generation. Trump's biggest veterans-related legislation was the Mission Act, which expanded veterans' ability to seek VA-funded care outside of the VA system.
"Someone who may have benefited from the passage of the Mission Act, for that individual, it's the most important thing," said Patrick Murray, legislative director at the Veterans for Foreign Wars. "Someone who may have had a rare cancer that was benefited by the PACT Act, that's the most important thing to them. So, different veterans who had different illnesses, injuries, disabilities, whatever, may have benefited from either of the bills and, to those veterans, that's the most important thing."
Other veterans groups echoed the importance of both bills.
"We fought hard for the passage of the Mission and PACT acts because all veterans deserve the best care possible from VA," Chanin Nuntavong, the American Legion's executive director for government affairs, told Military.com in an email. "This means untangling the knots often associated with securing their earned healthcare benefits; expanding the rules to cover all those eligible; and lifting barriers to access, especially to those who live in rural areas."
President Joe Biden delivers a speech about the PACT Act at the Westwood Park YMCA in Nashua, New Hampshire.
John Tully/Getty Images
The PACT Act was the culmination of a yearslong effort from veterans, family members, and other advocates to get better recognition and care for ailments believed to be caused by exposure to burn pits and other toxins during their military services.
The legislative push got a significant boost when Biden, who has said he believes his son Beau's fatal brain cancer was caused by burn pit exposure, endorsed it at a State of the Union address, giving it the momentum needed to become law.
By the VA's own accounting, the law has resulted in more than a million new benefits claims approved and more than 300,000 new enrollments in VA health care.
The implementation has not been without issues. Most significantly, senior VA executives were improperly paid $10.8 million in bonuses that were intended to retain employees with critical skills needed to handle the influx of work from the PACT Act. Veterans have also given one of the most high-profile elements of the PACT Act — toxic exposure screenings — lackluster reviews.
But, overall, veterans organizations have celebrated the PACT Act as a historic achievement.
"Simply put, the bill represents the largest expansion of VA care and benefits for those exposed to harmful substances during their military service in history," Joe Parsetich, then the national commander for the Disabled American Veterans, said at the time of the passage in 2022.
The Mission Act, meanwhile, was an effort to fix issues with the earlier Choice Act, a 2014 law that was borne out of the VA wait-time scandal. Trump often incorrectly refers to his achievement as "Choice," even though the earlier bill with the same name was signed by his predecessor, President Barack Obama.
Then-US President Donald Trump holds up the VA Mission Act of 2018 he signed at a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House.
Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The Mission Act expanded the number of veterans eligible to receive private healthcare funded by the VA and consolidated several different programs for community care into one. Under the law, veterans can seek outside care if they face more than a 30-minute drive for primary care or mental health services or 60 minutes for specialty care, or a 20-day wait for a primary care or mental health appointment and more than 28 days for specialty care.
Republicans have alleged that the VA under the Biden administration has undermined the Mission Act by limiting the number of referrals to community care. VA officials and Democrats, by contrast, have expressed concern about ballooning community care costs since the law's implementation.
Another major element of the Mission Act, a commission that studied the VA's infrastructure needs, fizzled out when it recommended closing 17 medical centers and dozens of aging or underused clinics. Lawmakers in both parties who had facilities on the chopping block refused to move forward.
"What was passed was not perfect. Nothing ever is," the VFW's Murray said, noting proposed updates to community care pending in Congress right now. Still, the Mission Act "was huge, unprecedented."
"And then only a few years later, there was an even huger, more unprecedented bill that followed it," he added of the PACT Act. "So, both, at the time, were huge, were generational things, and then the next one just follows. So, we will see what comes in five to 10 years if there's another one that we'll be talking about."
Outside of legislation, Trump and Biden have divergent records on VA staffing and leadership.
Then-President Donald J. Trump gestures behind a model of a rocket while sitting beside US Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin.
Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images
Much like the rest of his administration, Trump's VA saw significant leadership turmoil.
Trump's first VA secretary was David Shulkin, a VA undersecretary during the Obama administration who was one of Trump's last picks for Cabinet secretaries ahead of his inauguration. Shulkin was ousted by Trump a little more than a year into the job after an inspector general report found he took a trip to Europe that involved more sightseeing than official business, used taxpayer funding to have his wife accompany him on the trip, and improperly accepted tickets to a Wimbledon tennis match as a gift.
To replace Shulkin, Trump first nominated current Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas — at the time, a Navy doctor who served as the White House physician and won Trump's favor by showering him with praise. Jackson, though, was forced to withdraw from consideration after allegations that were later confirmed by an inspector general that he drank on the job, overprescribed medications, and created a hostile work environment.
After Jackson's bid ended, Robert Wilkie, who had been working at the Pentagon, was nominated and confirmed as VA secretary. He lasted through the end of the Trump administration.
VA policy during the Trump administration was also directed by a trio of business executives with personal ties to Trump and memberships at his Mar-a-Lago club, according to a 2021 investigation by congressional Democrats that concluded the arrangement "violated the law and sought to exert improper influence over government officials to further their own personal interest."
US President Joe Biden and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough walk through the Cross Hall of the White House.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Biden's VA has had comparatively steadier leadership. Denis McDonough, who was Obama's chief of staff, has served as VA secretary since the beginning of the Biden administration.
There has been some turnover lower down on the organizational chart, including Donald Remy stepping down as deputy secretary last year. His replacement, Tanya Bradsher, the first woman to permanently be the VA No. 2, had a somewhat bumpy Senate confirmation over allegations she did not adequately respond to concerns from whistleblowers and Republican lawmakers that an IT system was exposing veterans' personal information.
There have been some calls from Republicans for officials involved in the PACT Act bonus scandal to resign, including at least one call for McDonough to step down. But the pressure has so far not reached a groundswell resulting in any resignations, with McDonough saying last month he continues to have faith in his leadership team.
Overall, the highest trust scores for the VA under each administration were nearly tied, according to Wisconsin Watch, a nonpartisan investigative news outlet. They were at 80.2% in 2021 under Trump and 80.4% in 2024 under Biden.
TikTok is one of the most popular platforms out there, helping thousands of creators increase their online presence, make money, and start their own businesses. The app has helped many break into the music industry, launch their comedy careers, and even attend high-profile events like the Met Gala.
The ByteDance-owned platform has gone through some major changes in the past year, though.
Recently, it introduced and expanded its focus on shopping, where creators on the platform who qualify for this feature can earn a commission by posting reviews of products or services they use or if their audience buys through their affiliate link. TikTok has also tapped into long-form content in an effort to compete with YouTube and steer away from the shorter, 15-and 30-second videos it first became popular for.
As TikTokers grow their brands, many of them tap talent managers and agents to help them earn even more lucratively. Some managers find their talent through mutual connections, at events, or by browsing social media themselves.
"TikTok still does an incredible job of shining light on new faces, new talent, and exciting content," Brendan Nahmias, a senior talent manager at the creator firm Whalar, previously told Business Insider.
These managers and agents can help their talent negotiate better contracts, connect them with brands, and even branch out into areas they don't have expertise in.
BI is compiling its fifth annual list of the most influential talent managers and agents who help TikTok creators jumpstart their careers. We encourage creators, influencer marketers, advertisers, publicists, creator startup founders, and other industry professionals, to inform us of which agents and managers are having a positive impact on TikTokers' careers.
Costco and Sam's Club have become destinations for Gen Z shoppers who want to save money.
Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images
Some Gen Z shoppers are trying to save money by shopping at Costco and Sam's Club.
They're sharing bulk groceries and membership cards with roommates and family.
It's the lastest example of how food prices are still historically high.
One of Gen Z's biggest tools for fighting persistently high food prices: Sharing a big cart of groceries — and potentially a membership card — from Costco or Sam's Club with roommates or family.
The young shoppers, many of whom are buying groceries on their own for the first time as college students or entry-level professionals, are buying huge bags of flour, packs of meat, and other bulk groceries, then splitting them with others in their social circles to save money, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
For warehouse retailers, Gen Z represents a fast-growing source of new memberships. The number of Sam's Club members age 27 and younger grew by 63% over the last two years, the Walmart-owned chain told the Journal.
One shopper who spoke to the Journal, recent University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduate Devak Nanda, said that he and his roommate walked 20 minutes each way to Costco to stock up. They used a wheeled cart to get groceries back to their apartment.
Other Gen Z and Millennials quoted in the Journal's article say that they split large packs of food with friends and family — even those that they don't live with — to get the savings of shopping at the wholesale retailers without having to store all of the food themselves.
For some, though, the tactic backfires. Nanda told the Journal that he eventually realized shopping at Costco wasn't actually saving him and his roommates any money after he did the math.
Costco and Sam's Club might be happy for the new customers, but they're likely less eager about those who share membership cards to make the purchases.
Wholesale retailers like Costco and Sam's Club have long appealed to consumers who shop for big families or parties. But some single people say a Costco membership makes sense for them thanks to benefits like savings on gas.
Are you a shopper or employee at Costco or Sam's Club with a story idea to share? Reach out to Business Insider at dreuter@businessinsider.com and abitter@businessinsider.com