Biden’s press conference will be a key test for him. But he’s no master of the big rhetorical moment

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden has a new opportunity Thursday to try to prove to the American public that he is capable of serving four more years beyond his term. shocking debate failure put the future of his presidency in doubt. But Biden is not known as a master of the big rhetorical moment, and his recent cleanup efforts have proven inadequate.

Biden, 81, will end the NATO Summit in Washington — an event designed to showcase his leadership on the world stage — with a rare solo press conference. His resilience and effectiveness are under the microscope like never before and he is struggling to suppress the The Democratic Party’s Panic about his chances in November.

By many metrics, from job growth and important legislation to the expanded transatlantic alliance, Biden can point to successes during his term. But where he sometimes failed – spectacularly, in the case of the debate – was in a defining part of the role that is not in the official job description: delivering inspiring oratory that commands the nation’s attention and respect.

Biden has tried to improve his performance since the debate, but her follow-up interview on ABC Last week was disappointing. Nothing he has tried appears to be stopping the bleeding, with more lawmakers calling on him to step aside amid concerns he could hand the White House back to former Republican President Donald Trump.

Americans tend to regard their leaders less for what they do than for how they make them feel, and Biden’s debate debacle has shaken his party to its core.

“The debate was a reminder that we can have as many policies as we want, but what the public sees and hears may be more important,” said Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton.

Rhetoric is intertwined with the modern presidency, from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” to “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

It can inspire in the wake of a tragedy, like George W. Bush’s megaphone speech over the smoldering rubble of Ground Zero, and help a country weary of war and recession regain its sense of identity, like the “Yes, we can !” by Barack Obama! Even Donald Trump’s cry of “Make America Great Again” echoed the mood of the restless nation.

“People saw Trump as a reflection of a more turbulent, chaotic and angry country,” Zelizer said. “Voters may see Biden’s frailty as a symbol of weakness or his own brand of instability.”

Biden can give a good speech – his State of the Union address earlier this year helped calm those who doubted his viability as a candidate. But his strength as president and politician has been the way his humanity in intimate settings has resonated with voters and the power of his personal narrative and practical roots.

However, these moments, in private or in front of small crowds, even if amplified on social media, as Biden’s team hopes, will certainly reach fewer people than the tens of millions who watched his fight with Trump.

Despite calls from some in his party to step aside, Biden pressed on, insisting he is the best Democrat to defeat Trump, whose candidacy he has called an existential threat to democracy.

Your press conference You will be closely watched for your ability to think for yourself, to demonstrate dynamism and to articulate that you are still capable of getting the job done and beating it once again.

Even before the debate, Biden’s victories as president came many times despite his inability to sell them to a skeptical public. Before the confrontation with Trump, he has historically low approval ratings for an American leader. And he was unable to overcome voters’ pessimism about the country’s direction and most voters in his own party already considered him too old to effectively lead the country.

The debate, rather than helping Biden restart the race against Trump, confirmed voters’ pre-established fears about him, said Allison Prasch, a professor of rhetoric who researches presidential communications at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

“The president is a symbol,” she said, adding that Americans often look to the president as a mirror to reflect on their hopes and fears.

“We could argue that when we see a president who appears ill, who has difficulty carrying out some of the basic tasks of the presidency, we have doubts about the state of the nation,” she said.

She contrasted her recent halting public comments with her campaign message from four years ago.

“In 2020 he promised to demonstrate confidence in the face of chaos. He was saying, ‘I am a constant force,’” Prasch said. “If that’s how you identify and do the opposite in this debate, that’s exactly why this was so shocking to the public.”

Biden’s advisers and allies responded to the debate with a series of public statements defending Biden’s mental state and fitness for office, particularly focusing on major Oval Office decisions, rather than his ability to articulate them to the masses.

“I saw no reason to question or doubt his lucidity, his understanding of the context, his investigative nature and the degree to which he is completely in command of the facts and figures,” said the White House Homeland Security spokesman. , John Kirby, on Monday.

Brett McGurk, the White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa and a veteran of four administrations, said he was never concerned about Biden’s decision-making.

Speaking of Biden, he told the Associated Press: “I have never seen a president who is not prepared, who is not deliberate, who does not ask rigorous questions of those in the room or of a foreign leader,” adding that Biden “makes decisions, at times, which are often difficult decisions, and then it really follows.”

While Biden and his team have made a concerted effort since the debate to raise their public visibility — which had been limited by aides concerned about Biden’s propensity for gaffes or mistakes — it has proven uneven and at times discouraging.

Campaign in Pennsylvania on SundayBiden delivered remarks lasting less than 10 minutes at a church in Philadelphia and at a rally in Harrisburg, but spent three times as long taking selfies and hugging children — the kind of light-hearted content that has always boosted his political fortunes.

A phone interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” showed Biden’s defiance and distaste for the party’s “elites” by promising to stay in the race. In his opening comments at the NATO summit, Biden was forceful in defending the alliance.

“The more he goes out to campaign with voters, the greater the contrast will be and the easier the choice will be for these voters: between Joe Biden, a decent man who fights for the middle class, and an unbalanced billionaire like Trump, who wants to end the ACA and turning our country into a dictatorship,” said campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz, referring in part to the Affordable Care Act.

But asked in the ABC interview how he would feel if his candidacy handed the White House back to Trump, he gave a confused and uninspiring answer: “I will, as long as I gave it my all and got it done. the best work I know I can do, that’s what it’s all about.”

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AP Writer Colleen Long contributed to this report.