Democrats and Republicans offered sharply differing views of President Joe Biden’s highly anticipated news conference at the NATO summit, with Republicans calling it another election victory for President Trump and Democrats offering mixed reactions.
Still, opinion has shifted among Democrats who think Biden’s performance was “strong.” One Democratic activist said Needless to say He believes “there are people who owe the president an apology” following Biden’s press conference, which came after some Democrats and commentators called on him to drop out of the race or expressed concern about his aging.
Meanwhile, a Trump campaign official told Fox News Digital after Thursday night’s press conference that “it appears Biden has done enough to convince his defenders that he should remain the nominee, but he has further emphasized what the American people know.”
Biden’s fundraising will take a hit as Democrats call for him to end his 2024 presidential campaign, sources say.
U.S. President Joe Biden pauses while speaking at the 75th anniversary of NATO at Andrew Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC, on July 9, 2024. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
“Their lives are hurt every day by his weakness and failure,” the source said.
Donald Trump Jr., The top dad surrogate said on his Rumble livestream that Biden “did well enough to qualify,” but later shared a social media post that blended together the faces of President Trump and President Harris and wrote, “Vice President Trump.”
Veteran Republican consultant Dave Carney told Fox News the press conference “couldn’t have gone any better” for Biden.
Biden stumbled when he introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin” at the NATO summit in Washington, D.C. He quickly realized his mistake and corrected himself. However, in a later evening press conference, he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump” and did not correct himself.
During and after the press conference, Biden’s immediate team and many allies were quick to tout the meeting as a huge success, and a source familiar with the Biden campaign said Biden had discussed foreign policy in depth and exceeded expectations.
Flashback: The last time Biden held a solo “big boy press conference” was eight months ago.
President Biden and former President Trump. (Win McNamee/Getty Images/Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
But the source added that while a press conference alone won’t ultimately convince voters, Biden’s continued campaigning and travel should do the trick.
Some Democrats argued that the president’s answers on foreign policy issues show he has expertise on international affairs.
“To answer any questions you may have, Joe Biden does not have a PhD in foreign affairs. He’s just very, very smart,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said. I wrote in the post To X.
Joel Rubin, a former senior State Department official during the Obama administration, called Biden’s performance “very strong.”
Trump, Republicans target rising star Kamala Harris as a “Biden supporter”
President Joe Biden speaks to reporters during the NATO summit in Washington DC, USA, Thursday, July 11, 2024. President Joe Biden and NATO’s 31 other leaders had hoped the summit would celebrate renewed solidarity against Russian President Vladimir Putin, issue a warning to China and prove that the 75-year-old alliance is stronger than ever, but the three-day extravaganza was overshadowed by domestic turmoil across the alliance. (Photographer: Graham Sloane/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Frankly, this was a very powerful performance. @POTUS delivered a master class on how foreign and domestic policy intersect, and explained why America’s global leadership matters to people at home. Well done, Mr. President.” Rubin wrote: In post X.
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Democrats remain deeply divided on whether Biden should halt his reelection campaign and allow another candidate to face Trump head-to-head in November. On Friday, Fox News confirmed that another House Democrat, Rep. Mike Levin of California, had joined the chorus of lawmakers calling for Biden to step aside.
At least 10 House Democrats and one Senate Democrat have publicly called on Biden not to seek reelection, and a growing number of House and Senate Democrats are warning publicly and privately that Biden will lose to Trump in November’s presidential election.
Get the latest 2024 campaign updates, exclusive interviews and more on Fox News Digital’s Election Hub.
Fox News Digital’s Timothy H.J. Nerozzi and Paul Steisenhauer contributed to this report.
