WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.
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.
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:
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.
It’s a delicate dance between the president and vice president, with many Democrats openly pining for Harris to replace Biden on the ticket.
