WASHINGTON – Joe Biden faced a test on Thursday that he had avoided so far this year – a solo press conference with questions from the White House press.
The news conference was aimed at reassuring a disheartened group of Democratic lawmakers, allies and voters persuaded in this year’s election that Biden still has the strength and stamina to be president. Biden tried to defend his weak and halting performance in the June 27th debate against Republican Donald Trump more as an outlier than proof that, at 81, he lacks the vigor and commanding presence that the public expects from the commander-in-chief.
He made at least two notable mistakes, referring at a previous event to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin” and then calling Kamala Harris “Vice President Trump” when asked about her by a reporter. to preserve NATO and his plans for a second term and insisted he will not abandon the race, even as a growing number of Democratic lawmakers call on him to step aside.
Here are some highlights from the press conference:
Perhaps Biden’s biggest slip-up at the press conference came early on, when he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump,” saying he chose her because he believed she could beat Trump.
Even before the press conference, Biden had messed up an important name in the NATO Summit and instantly lowered expectations for his performance.
“Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” Biden said as he introduced the Ukrainian president, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is definitely not Russian President Vladimir Putin. The gaffe immediately drew gasps, as Biden caught himself and told Zelenskyy: “President Putin? You will defeat President Putin.”
But he was defiant when a reporter brought up his “Vice President Trump” reference and noted that the Republican candidate’s campaign was already promoting the misstep. “Listen to him,” he said, before leaving the stage.
A House Democrat, Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, issued a statement minutes later calling for the president to withdraw.
It’s a delicate dance between the president and vice president, with many Democrats openly hoping for Harris to replace Biden on the ticket. Biden did not acknowledge that tension, but only mentioned Harris in response to pointed questions about whether he believed she had the ability to replace him.
“I wouldn’t have chosen her unless I thought she was qualified to be president,” Biden said, citing Harris’ resume as a prosecutor in the U.S. Senate.
But in response to a follow-up question, he acknowledged that he had abandoned his 2020 campaign promise to be a “bridge” to a new generation of Democrats. “What changed was the gravity of the situation I inherited,” he said, without saying a word about his vice president.
He repeatedly said, “I have to finish this job.”
The press conference ended with Biden being asked directly whether he would step down from Harris if he saw that polls showed she had a better chance of defeating Trump. “Not unless they come back and say there’s no way to win,” Biden responded. Then he added, in a theatrical whisper: “No research says that.”
Biden has tried to argue that what he is doing is more important than how he talks about it.
He praised the recently concluded NATO summit for elevating America’s standing. “Have you ever seen a more successful conference?” Biden told a group of reporters that they often only watched the conference during prepared remarks.
He detailed how inflation has declined since its 2022 peak while presenting statistics such as the creation of 800,000 manufacturing jobs under his watch, saying world leaders would like to trade their own economies for what the United States has. He also said he would limit rent increases for tenants of landlords who are part of a low-income housing tax credit program.
It’s the same proposal that Biden has made in important speeches, without necessarily doing much to increase his own popularity. Her team believes that this will be absorbed if it is repeated constantly.
Biden began the press conference by talking at length about NATO and its value to the United States – one of his strongest political points against Trump, who has been openly skeptical of the alliance and once suggested it would encourage Russia to attack the NATO members he considered delinquent.
Biden linked himself to an American tradition that stretches “from Truman to Reagan and me” of defending NATO. “Every American must ask themselves: is the world safer with NATO?” he asked.
Later, to reassure a European journalist who was asking about governments on that continent concerned about the possibility of Trump winning, Biden launched into a detailed account of how he helped lead Finland into the alliance. After that, he detailed how to react to China for supporting Russia during the war against Ukraine and stated that he will continue to be able to deal with Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Overall, Biden spoke powerfully and fluently about foreign policy, one of his favorite topics. But the focus of the press conference wasn’t really foreign policy, but rather reassuring Democrats and the world that Biden is still capable of being president and beating Trump.
This shows how even Biden’s strengths are being overshadowed by questions about his capabilities.
Every politician has a standard set of lines. And whenever Biden could, he returned to his favorite talking points. It was a way of answering the question without necessarily having to say something spontaneous or new.
He pursued piecemeal economics, borrowing a line about his father never benefiting much from the tax cuts intended for the wealthy (“I don’t remember much of anything ever reaching the kitchen table”). He praised Delaware for leading the country in corporations. He said he is the “most pro-union Labor president in history”. He explained his decision to run for a second term with a variation on his catchphrase “finish the job.” He began his standard spiel about computer chips.
With no time limit on his answers, as he faced in the debate, Biden continued for several minutes telling stories about his interactions with foreign leaders and making the case for his re-election.
There were few fireworks in Biden’s responses — with the highly anticipated event at times seeming more like a think tank talk than an effort to get voters’ attention. He went into granular detail about geopolitics and recited numbers – asking at one point, however, not to limit himself to the precise number.
While it didn’t erase the debate’s stumbles and blank stares, it showed that he could answer reporters’ questions on a range of issues without losing focus.
There was still regular coughing and clearing of the throat. And sometimes he lowered his voice to a hoarse whisper that evoked the roughness of his voice on the night of the debate.
Overall, his performance was a reminder that people are focused on him now with an almost clinical eye for potential slip-ups and mistakes, the kind of pressure that isn’t likely to go away as long as Biden insists he will stay in the race. .
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Riccardi reported from Denver.
