Biden on Thursday defended his chances as the top Democratic nominee and laid out the case for his candidacy, even as he made a high-profile gaffe at a high-profile news conference amid growing calls from lawmakers for him to step aside.
The president spoke to reporters for nearly an hour, asserting that he is the best person to take on former President Trump in November, even as others in his party openly questioned whether that was the case.
“If I thought President Trump was unfit to be president, I wouldn’t have chosen her as my vice president,” Biden said while answering the first question of the night, conflating his running mate with his opponent.
Biden’s high-profile gaffe of mistaking Vice President Harris for former President Trump after incorrectly introducing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin” threatened to mar a relatively strong speech in which he was answering questions about foreign policy, the conflict with Russia and China and the risks to the United States if his successor retreats from the world stage.
“I believe I’m the best person to govern,” he later added, “and the best person to win. But there are other people who can beat Trump. But it’s all starting from scratch. And, you know, we’re talking about the money we’ve raised. We’re not bad.”
“Let’s start there,” he continued. “The fact is, the consideration is that I believe I am the best qualified person to run for president. I beat him once and I intend to win again.”
The president later said he was “determined to run” and that he thought it was important for Americans “to see me there” to ease concerns.
“We cannot allow us to lose what we’ve achieved and to roll back civil rights, civil liberties and women’s rights,” he added, vocalizing his determination to curb gun violence and deal with a conservative Supreme Court.
“We have to get this job done because there’s a lot at stake,” he said.
Biden took questions from nearly a dozen reporters for nearly an hour at a news conference concluding the NATO summit. Even as he and his aides touted the success of this week’s summit and his foreign policy record, much of the focus was on the state of his struggling election campaign and whether he would continue.
Polls have shown Biden trailing Trump in battleground states following his disastrous performance in the June 27 debate, in which Biden struggled to finish sentences and stood with his mouth open while Trump spoke.
The president on Thursday downplayed the restlessness in Congress, saying it was “not unusual” for lawmakers to be worried about a top candidate, and argued that with less than five months to go until Election Day, “at least five” sitting presidents running for reelection are polling worse than him.
“There’s still a long way to go in this campaign,” he said, “so I’m going to keep moving forward. I’m going to keep moving forward, because I still have work to do.”
Biden downplayed the idea that continuing the campaign would tarnish his accomplishments.
“I didn’t take this job on my own merit. I took this job to finish what I started,” he said, in comments that were shared widely on social media by campaign and White House aides.
Asked whether he thought a challenge would be issued to him at next month’s Democratic National Convention, the president at one point insisted “that’s not going to happen” but said the party was “free to do whatever it wants” if it wanted to choose a different candidate.
Biden said he plans to undergo another neurological exam if his doctor recommends it.
Biden was also asked if he would back out if he saw polling data showing Harris ahead of him in beating Trump, but he didn’t entertain the idea.A poll conducted this week by leading Democratic pollster Bendixen & Amandi showed Harris ahead of Trump by one point, 42% to 41%, with Biden trailing Harris by one point.
“Unless they come back and say you have no chance of winning,” he said. “Nobody’s saying that, the polls aren’t saying that.”
There was widespread view among White House aides that the press conference went well.
“To answer the question everyone’s asking, Joe Biden does not have a PhD in foreign affairs. He’s just really smart,” Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates posted on X.
And in the Biden campaign’s view, Biden “did a lot more” than engage with reporters at length, a source familiar with the matter argued. Biden “answered complex, step-by-step questions about foreign policy in detail, perhaps as no one else could.” The press conference was seen as proof that substance matters over style, and as a way to dispel the notion that Biden was staying in the race not on his own personal merits.
However, shortly after the press conference, Biden was once again called on to drop out of the race by Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
Democrats were closely watching Biden’s Thursday night news conference to gauge his ability to answer reporters’ questions coherently and incisively. About a dozen lawmakers have called for him to step down as a candidate, and several others have questioned whether Biden can successfully campaign against Trump and convince voters to support him for reelection.
The New York Times and NBC News reported Thursday that some Biden campaign officials are growing increasingly pessimistic about his path to victory and are considering ways to dissuade him from running. The campaign denied that it was discussing urging him to step aside.
While the main focus of the NATO summit has been the war in Ukraine and pushing back against Russian aggression, much of the questioning has centered on Trump’s political future and whether he will seek another four years in office.
Asked whether he would be available for a one-on-one meeting with President Vladimir Putin at this time, amid calls for him to decline due to his age and mental health, Biden insisted he was “prepared to negotiate with the president now and in three years time.”
“I’m in negotiations right now with President Xi Jinping, I’m in direct contact with him,” Biden said, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping. “While there’s no good reason to talk to President Putin right now, there’s no world leader with whom I’m not prepared to negotiate. But I understand your general point: Is President Putin prepared to negotiate? I’m not prepared to talk to President Putin unless he’s prepared to change his attitude.”
When asked how he could assure the American people that he intended to serve in office for the next four years, Trump pointed to his track record and said the best barometer would be how well he was doing on the job.
He defended his schedule.ReportsHe argued that this was not true, despite Trump’s suggestion that he would scale back and not want to hold events after 8 p.m., and contrasted his activities with the dearth of public events by President Trump in recent weeks.
“Instead of starting a fundraiser at 9, start at 8 and people can be home by 10,” he said. “My schedule is full.
“I love my staff, but they always add stuff,” he joked. “They always add stuff, at the last minute. My wife gets mad at me for it.”
Harris’ name has come to the forefront since calls for Biden to resign. Asked about her, Biden praised her work on reproductive health and her past work as a prosecutor and senator.
“She is the right person to be president, and that’s why I chose her,” the president said.
