All eyes were on President Joe Biden Thursday evening as the Democratic presidential nominee delivered remarks at a press conference, determined to show that he is capable of running a successful campaign for president against his GOP rival, former President Donald Trump.
Biden’s performance at the presser, which took place on the final day of the NATO summit in Washington D.C., received a mixed response from commentators but ultimately failed to quell concerns from members of his party, despite Biden’s forceful insistence during his comments that he would not be dropping out.
Biden stumbled on his first question — accidentally referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump” — and made excuses for his dismal performance at a debate two weeks ago, claiming that his schedule had been “full-bore” and that he had to “pace [himself] a little bit more.”
Questions about Biden’s mental acuity have been at the forefront of political discourse since that debate, in which Biden struggled at many points to provide coherent statements. Since then, Biden has attempted — and so far failed — to alleviate concerns regarding his ability to make it through the campaign and serve another four years in office.
Biden maintained on Thursday that he is “the most qualified person to run for president.”
“I beat [Trump] once and I will beat him again,” Biden said.
He also stated that he wasn’t opposed to taking a neurological exam, but only if his doctors told him he needed one.
He made other gaffes, too: “I’m following the advice of my commander-in-chief,” Biden said, despite the fact that he himself is the commander-in-chief.
Biden was also asked whether the delegates at the Democratic National Convention next month could vote their “conscience” and choose a different candidate, even if they were pledged to him.
“They’re free to do whatever they want, but I got overwhelming support,” Biden said, adding that he didn’t believe that was going to happen.
Biden suggested that he would leave the race on his own if his advisers told him that there was “no way” he could win — but he also questioned the accuracy of polling data, and said he hasn’t seen proof he can’t win yet.
“There are other people who could beat Trump, too, but it’s awful hard to start from scratch,” he added.
Biden ended the press conference by responding to a question about the gaffe he had made earlier — a reporter noted that Trump had already made a social media post alluding to his “Vice President Trump” mistake at the beginning of the presser.
“Now Donald Trump is using that to mock your age and your memory,” the reporter said. “How do you combat that criticism from tonight?”
Biden responded, sardonically: “Listen to him,” then walked off the stage.
Political experts noted that although Biden’s speech wasn’t a win, it wasn’t as bad as his debate performance or some recent interviews he’s given.
“The problem is that this [press conference] isn’t fatality bad, it’s just not that good either. Right in that no win zone. Exactly what the Ds did not need,” said Colorado State University political science professor Kyle Saunders on X.
Julián Castro, who has expressed the view that Biden should drop out of the race, recognized that the president did better in this appearance.
“President Biden spoke well about his success in marshaling allies and protecting NATO. Still, even in this major media moment, he didn’t offer a clear articulation of his core message against Trump. Or his path of victory to defeat Trump,” Castro said.
Former Obama chief political strategist David Axelrod latched on to Biden’s point about exiting the race if he can’t win against Trump, suggesting that the president’s aides weren’t being forthright with him.
“If what he said at the end of his presser is true, it sounds like Biden’s team has not been very candid with him about what the data is showing: the age issue is a huge and potentially insurmountable concern and his odds of victory are very, very slim,” Axelrod said.
After the presser concluded, more Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives announced they were calling on Biden to remove himself from the top of the presidential ticket.
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Connecticut), the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, praised Biden for his work as president, but said it was too dangerous to gamble on the 2024 election by staying in the race.
The 2024 election will define the future of American democracy, and we must put forth the strongest candidate possible to confront the threat posed by Trump’s promised MAGA authoritarianism I no longer believe that is Joe Biden, and I hope that, as he has throughout a lifetime of public service, he will continue to put our nation first and, as he promised, make way for a new generation of leaders.
At least two other Democratic House members also announced their opposition to Biden running again after the press conference’s conclusion. So far, 17 House members in the Democratic conference have called on Biden to drop out, as well as one Democratic senator, Peter Welch of Vermont. CBS News reports that dozens of other lawmakers are planning to join the calls for him to step down in the coming days.
Recent polling shows that voters also want Biden to drop out, with an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos survey this week finding that 67 percent of voters say he should. While Biden is technically tied with Trump in that poll, Harris fares slightly better than Biden, defeating Trump with 49 percent of support from voters versus Biden’s 46 percent support in a head-to-head contest.
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