Three more Democrats call on president to end his candidacy after the back-and-forth with journalists.
President Biden, in a pivotal news conference designed to save his candidacy, showed moments of fluency and command of detail as he parried questions from journalists, but also stumbled over words, conflated names and at times gave meandering answers.
The result was a mixed performance in a much-anticipated event that many Democrats had been anxiously awaiting to see if Biden could allay their fears about his age, mental agility and ability to defeat Republican Donald Trump. The reaction of those Democrats in coming days could clarify the course of Biden’s candidacy and whether he will be able to withstand mounting calls from within his party to step aside.
In one of the more jarring moments, Biden mistakenly referred to Vice President Harris as “Vice President Trump.” The flub came hours after a separate event during the NATO summit in Washington when Biden introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Russian President Vladimir Putin, immediately correcting himself.
In an indication that the news conference would not halt the calls for him to end his candidacy, three additional Democrats—Reps. Jim Himes of Connecticut, Scott Peters of California and Eric Sorensen of Illinois — issued statements urging him to withdraw shortly after it ended. That followed four members of Congress who had called on him to step aside earlier Thursday before the event began.
The news conference was ostensibly scheduled to mark the end of the 75th annual NATO summit in Washington, but it was immediately dominated by questions over Biden’s advanced age and precarious political standing after a June 27 presidential debate, when he struggled to complete some thoughts and fumbled answers on a range of issues.
Standing at the center of a large stage, with a blue NATO backdrop and eight American flags behind him, Biden fielded questions from reporters for nearly an hour in an effort to display his mental acuity and verbal agility. He held court on multiple issues, ranging from his physical fitness to global conflicts. Some of his lengthiest answers were on foreign affairs, and he offered detailed responses about U.S. relations with Europe, China and the Middle East.
As he faced a bevy of pointed questions about his health, stamina and mental acuity, Biden was at times dismissive and at others self-deprecating, arguing that his performance as president was the best sign of his vigor while also suggesting that in the future he would need to reduce his activities.
He elaborated on an earlier comment he had made after the debate that he needed to end his days earlier. “What I said was, instead of my every day starting at 7 and going to bed at midnight, it would be smarter for me to pace myself a little more,” Biden said. “Instead of starting a fundraiser at 9 o’clock, start it at 8 o’clock — people get to go home by 10 o’clock. That’s what I’m talking about.”
He compared his pace in recent days with Trump’s, jabbing the former president for his limited public activities. “If you look at my schedule since I made that stupid mistake at the debate, I mean, my schedule has been full-bore,” he said. “And where has Trump been? Riding around in his golf cart, filling out his scorecard before he hits the ball? Look, he’s done virtually nothing.”
Some Democrats, including those who have privately said they want the president to step aside, said they thought he did relatively well at the news conference. Biden’s aides noted the positive responses from some lawmakers and argued that the president had cleared the bar in one of the most consequential events of his political career.
