President Joe Biden defended his record and sought to assure voters that his presidential campaign can continue during a solo news conference at the NATO summit in Washington, DC on Thursday.
The moment most people remember is when he mistakenly referred to the vice president as former President Donald Trump instead of Kamala Harris.
“I love my staff, but they mess around with things and my wife gives me a terrible treatment.”
The speech began at 6:30 p.m., nearly two hours later than scheduled.
Some commentators had expected Biden to use the speech to back away from the presidential campaign trail, but he instead defended NATO, defended his economic plan and touted his plans to ease instability in the Middle East between the Palestinians and Israelis.
Biden took questions after his speech but acknowledged he had a select list of reporters.
When asked about his accomplishments during his time in office, he said he built a better U.S. economy by breaking with trickle-down economics.
He also defended Vice President Kamala Harris, saying she has been a great prosecutor and has championed women’s issues.
“I wouldn’t have elected her if I didn’t think she was qualified to be president,” he said. “She is qualified to be president, and that’s why I elected her.”
At another point, Trump appeared to blame staff for adding content to his remarks that he had not approved.
“I love my staff, but they add something at the end and my wife gives me a hard time because of it,” he joked.
Before his speech, Biden mistakenly referred to the Ukrainian president as “Putin,” but quickly corrected himself.
By Thursday, 14 Democrats had called on the president to step down from the campaign trail, and some celebrities, including actor George Clooney, author Stephen King and actor and director Rob Reiner, had joined the anti-Biden chorus.
Biden has not held a solo press conference since late 2013.
CNN first reported Thursday that the president’s entire Cabinet has not met since 2013.
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