WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden faced a test Thursday that he’s avoided so far this year — a Separate news conference With questions from the White House press corps.
The news conference was intended to reassure a disenchanted group of Democratic lawmakers, allies and partisan voters in this year’s election that Biden still has the strength and endurance to be president. Biden tried to defend his weak and tongue-tied performance June 27 Debate vs Republican Donald Trump More of an outlier than evidence that he lacked the vigor and commanding presence that the public expected from the commander at 81 years of age.
When a reporter asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “President Putin” and then Kamala Harris “Vice President Trump” at an event, he made at least two notable flubs. But he also gave detailed answers about his work to defend NATO and his plans for a second term. And he insisted he is not leaving the race, despite a growing number of Democratic lawmakers asking him to step aside.
Here are some highlights from the press conference:
He confounded major names — and was a detractor
Biden’s biggest slip in the press conference was when he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump,” saying he chose her because he believed he could defeat Trump.
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Before the news conference, Biden made an important name-drop NATO summit And immediately lowered expectations for his performance.
“Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” Biden said while introducing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, not Russian President Vladimir Putin. The coffee prompted an immediate gasp as Biden caught himself and told Zelensky: “President Putin? You are going to defeat President Putin.
But he objected when a reporter brought up his reference to “Vice President Trump” and noted that the Republican nominee’s campaign was already promoting slippage. “Hear what he has to say,” he said before leaving the stage.
One House Democrat is a representative from Connecticut. Jim Himes called for the president to withdraw moments later.
President Joe Biden referred to the country’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, as “President Putin” while announcing an agreement that would unite NATO nations to support Ukraine.
He insisted that I complete this work.
It’s a delicate dance between the president and the vice president, with many Democrats publicly interested in putting Harris on the ticket instead of Biden. Biden has not acknowledged that tension, but only brought Harris up in response to pointed questions about whether he believes she has the ability to replace Harris.
“I wouldn’t have elected her unless I thought she was qualified to be president,” Biden said, citing Harris’ candidacy for the U.S. Senate.
But in response to a later question, he acknowledged that he had moved on from his 2020 campaign promise to be a “bridge” to a new generation of Democrats. “The gravity of the situation I inherited changed,” he said without a word about his vice president.
Repeatedly, he said, “I must finish this work.”
The press conference ended with Biden being directly asked if he would step down for Harris if polls showed him more likely to defeat Trump. “No, unless they come back and say there’s no way you can win,” Biden responded. He then added in a stage whisper, “No polls say that.”
He argued that decisions were based on rhetoric
Biden tried to make the case that what he does is more important than how he says it.
He hailed the just-concluded NATO summit as a boost to America’s position. “Have you ever seen a successful convention?” Biden told a group of reporters who could only watch the conference during prepared remarks.
He explored how figures such as the creation of 800,000 manufacturing jobs have scaled back from the 2022 peak, saying world leaders want to trade their own economies for those in the United States. He also said he would limit how much rents could grow for tenants of landlords who are part of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program.
It’s the same pitch Biden has made in stump speeches without doing much to move his own popularity. His team believes it will sink in if it is repeated over and over again.
He brought his work at NATO
Biden opened the press conference by talking at length about NATO and its value to the United States — one of his strongest political issues against Trump, who has been openly skeptical of the alliance and once suggested it would encourage Russia to attack NATO members. He was presumed innocent.
Biden aligned himself with the American tradition “from Truman to Reagan” in defending NATO. “Every American should ask himself, Is the world safer with NATO?” he asked.
Later, asked by a European journalist about governments on the continent worried that Trump might win, Biden began detailing how he helped get Finland into the coalition. He then elaborated on how to push back against China for supporting Russia during its war against Ukraine, and argued that he could continue to deal with Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Overall, Biden spoke forcefully and eloquently about one of his favorite subjects: foreign policy. But the focus of the news conference wasn’t really foreign policy, it was reassuring Democrats and the world that Biden could still be president and beat Trump.
It shows how even Biden’s strengths are overshadowed by questions about his abilities.
Stump returned to speech if possible
Every politician has a share of taxes. Whenever Biden finished, he returned to his favorite talking points. It’s a way to answer a question without having to say anything spontaneous or new.
He espoused trickle-down economics, borrowing a line about how his father never benefited much from tax cuts aimed at the wealthy (“I don’t remember trickling more than his kitchen table”). He praised Delaware for leading the nation in institutions. He said he was “the most pro-union Labor leader in history”. He explained his decision to run for a second term with a variation of his “get the job done” catchphrase. He went on his standard spiel about computer chips.
With no time limit for answers like he faced in the debate, Biden went on for several minutes telling stories about his contacts with foreign leaders and building his case for re-election.
He answered the questions in detail – unlike in the debate
There were some fireworks in Biden’s responses — at times the highly anticipated event came off more like a think tank lecture than an attempt to get voters’ attention. He went into minute detail on geopolitics and rattled off numbers — though, at one point, asked not to have an exact count.
While that didn’t erase the stuttering and blank stares from the debate, it showed that he could engage reporters’ questions on many subjects without losing focus.
Still had the usual cough and sore throat. At times he lowered his voice to a rough whisper that evoked the hoarseness of his voice on debate night.
Overall, his presentation was a reminder that people now focus on him with an almost clinical eye for slip-ups and missteps, which is unlikely to go away as long as Biden insists he will stay in the race. .
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Riccardi reported from Denver.
