WASHINGTON – Joe Biden faced a test Thursday that he had avoided so far this year — a solo news conference with questions from the White House press corps.
The news conference was meant to reassure a disheartened group of Democratic lawmakers, allies and persuadable voters in this year's election that Biden still has the strength and stamina to be president. Biden has tried to defend his feeble and tongue-tied performance in the June 27 debate against Republican Donald Trump as an outlier rather than evidence that at 81 he lacks the vigor and commanding presence that the public expects from the commander in chief.
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He made at least two notable flubs, referring at an event beforehand to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin" and then calling Kamala Harris “Vice President Trump” when asked about her by a reporter. But he also gave detailed responses about his work to preserve NATO and his plans for a second term. And he insisted he's not leaving the race even as a growing number of Democratic lawmakers ask him to step aside.
Here are some highlights from the press conference:
He bungled key names — and remained defiant
Perhaps Biden’s biggest slip-up in the press conference came early on when he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump,” in saying he picked her because he believed she could beat Trump.
Even before the news conference, Biden had bungled an important name at the NATO summit and instantly lowered expectations for his performance.
“Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” Biden said as he was introducing Ukrainian President President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is most definitely not Russian President Vladimir Putin. The gaffe immediately prompted gasps, as Biden caught himself and said to Zelenskyy: “President Putin? You’re going to beat President Putin.”
But he was defiant when a reporter brought up his reference to “Vice President Trump” and noted the presumptive Republican nominee's campaign was already promoting the slip-up. “Listen to him,” he said, before walking off the stage.
One House Democrat, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, issued a statement minutes later calling on the president to withdraw.
He insisted, ‘I’ve got to finish this job'
It’s a delicate dance between the president and vice president, with many Democrats openly pining for Harris to replace Biden on the ticket. Biden didn’t acknowledge that tension, but only brought Harris up in response to pointed questions about whether he believed she had the capability to replace him.
“I wouldn’t have picked her unless I thought she was qualified to be president,” Biden said, citing Harris’ resume from prosecutor to the U.S. Senate.
But in response to a later question he acknowledged he’d moved on from his 2020 campaign promise to be a “bridge” to a new generation of Democrats. “What changed was the gravity of the situation I inherited,” he said, without a word about his vice president.
Repeatedly, he said, “I've got to finish this job.”
The press conference ended with Biden being asked directly whether he’d step down for Harris if he saw polling showing she had a better chance of beating Trump. “No, unless they come back and said there’s no way you can win,” Biden responded. Then he added, in a stage whisper, “No poll’s saying that.”
He argued he's delivered results over rhetoric
Biden tried to make the case that what he’s doing matters more than how he talks about it.
He praised the just finished NATO summit as elevating America’s standing. “Have you ever seen a more successful conference?” Biden said to a group of reporters who often only got to see the conference during prepared remarks.
He drilled down on how inflation has eased from its 2022 peak as he reeled off stats such as the creation of 800,000 manufacturing jobs under his watch, saying that world leaders would want to trade their own economies for what United States has. He also said he would cap how much rent could grow for tenants of landlords who are part of a tax-credit program for low-income housing.
It’s the same pitch Biden has made in stump speeches without necessarily doing much to move his own popularity. His team believes it will sink in if repeated constantly.
He brought up his work on NATO
Biden kicked off 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 he'd encourage Russia to attack NATO members whom he considered delinquent.
Biden tied himself to an American tradition stretching “from Truman to Reagan to me” of defending NATO. “Every American must ask herself or himself, is the world safer with NATO?” he asked.
Later, to assure a European journalist asking about governments on that continent worrying Trump could win, Biden launched into a detailed recounting of how he helped shepherd Finland into the alliance. After that, he went into detail about how to push back against China for supporting Russia during its war against Ukraine and contended he will continue to be able to deal with Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Overall, Biden spoke forcefully and fluently about foreign policy, one of his favorite subjects. But the news conference’s focus wasn’t really foreign policy, it was reassuring Democrats and the world that Biden is still able to be president and beat Trump.
That shows how even Biden’s strengths are being overshadowed by questions about his capabilities.
When possible, he went back to the stump speech
Every politician has a stock set of lines. And whenever Biden could, he went back to his favorite talking points. It was a way to answer the question without necessarily needing to say anything spontaneous or new.
He went after trickle-down economics, borrowing a line about his father never benefiting much from tax cuts aimed at the wealthy (“I don’t remember much trickling down to his kitchen table”). He hailed Delaware for leading the country in corporations. He said he’s the “most pro-union labor president in history.” He explained his decision to run for a second term with a variation on his “finish the job” catchphrase. He went into his standard spiel about computer chips.
With no time limit on his answers like he faced at the debate, Biden went on for several minutes at a time telling stories about his interactions with foreign leaders and making the case for his reelection.
He answered questions in detail — unlike at the debate
There were few fireworks in Biden’s answers -- with the highly anticipated event at times coming across as more of a think tank lecture than an effort to grab voters’ attention. He went into granular detail on geopolitics and rattled off numbers — asking at one moment, though, to not be held to the precise figure.
While it didn’t erase the stumbles and blank stares from the debate, it showed that he could engage with reporters’ questions on a range of issues without losing focus.
There was still regular coughing and throat clearing. And at times he lowered his voice to a hoarse whisper that evoked the rasp of his voice on debate night.
Overall, his presentation was a reminder that people are focused on him now with an almost clinical eye toward possible slip-ups and mistakes, the kind of pressure that is unlikely to go away for as long as Biden insists he’ll stay in the race.
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Riccardi reported from Denver.