Joe Biden Counters Dismal Debate With A Stronger Press Conference, But It Was Not Without A Big Verbal Gaffe — Update
UPDATE: At his nearly hourlong press conference, Joe Biden countered perceptions of cognitive decline by delving into the details of complex national security situations. He insisted that he would “keep moving” in the presidential race, although he slightly opened the door to an exit if he sees that there’s “no way” he can win. And he raised his voice at one point in addressing gun violence, a contrast to the weak raspy pitch at his disastrous debate with Donald Trump.
But minutes after the president finished, the Democratic lawmaker calls for him to exit the race, with Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) the latest.
“It’s not really about tonight,” Himes told MSNBC host Alex Wagner. “And one of the really kind of sick aspects of this moment is that we are watching every speech, every rally, every debate and saying, ‘How did he do today?’ And that’s just not the way to think about the presidency of the United States.”
In Biden’s first answer, to a question from Reuters’ Jeff Mason, he referred to Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump.” Earlier in the evening, he called Volodymyr Zelensky “President Putin.” The gaffes obscured what was otherwise a much better night for Biden than two weeks ago. But that was Himes’ point, one also raised by George Clooney: Democrats are on pins and needles worried that Biden will sink into something resembling his feeble nature at the CNN debate.
Nor was there a commitment to take a neurological exam, as some have suggested. Instead, Biden said, “I am not opposed if my doctors tell me I should have another neurological exam. I’ll do it.”
Biden’s emphasis on foreign policy, a natural given the setting at the NATO summit, underscored the stakes of the election, as he cast himself as the strong leader standing up to Vladimir Putin while Donald Trump has told the Russian president “do whatever the hell you want.”
The president insisted that world leaders fear a Trump presidency for his coddling up to dictators. But as Biden argued how dangerous a Trump presidency would be for the world order, it may also be reminder or Democrats of the risks in forging ahead in a candidacy that has fallen behind the former reality TV host in the polls.
Biden said that another Democrat could beat Trump, but that he was the best qualified to do it. In the wrenching crisis going on in the party, though, there are many who disagree.
PREVIOUSLY: Joe Biden wrapped up his press conference, lasting nearly an hour, by responding to a question about his verbal gaffe at the start.
NBC News’ Peter Alexander noted that Donald Trump was using the gaffe to mock Biden’s age and memory. Asked how he would address that criticism, Biden smiled and said, “Listen to him.” He also laughed off a verbal gaffe earlier in the day when he referred to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, as “President Putin.”
Biden called on 11 reporters.
A standout moment came when Biden raised his voice when talking about gun violence. “Control guns, not girls … More children are killed by a bullet than any other cause of death. The United States of America. What are we doing? We got a candidate promising the NRA, ‘Don’t worry I am not going to do anything.'”
But the event may be most remembered by how Biden countered concerns about his mental acuity by going into sometimes granular detail about national security and international issues, including the war in Ukraine and a cease fire proposal in Israel Gaza. It was a very different demeanor that he had at the presidential debate.
That said, shortly after the press conference ended, Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) called on Biden to drop out, becoming the latest lawmaker to do so.
NBC News’ Hallie Jackson said afterward, “In an alternate universe where that debate performance exactly two weeks ago tonight did not happen, there would likely be far less attention on the flubs, on the demeanor, on sort of the style points for President Biden here, and more of a focus on the substance. But the reality is, Democrats are concerned, more than a dozen of them have come out publicly now.”
PREVIOUSLY: President Joe Biden said that he would have another neurological exam if his doctors tell him he should have one.
But he suggested that “no one is going to be satisfied” no matter how many exams he has.
PREVIOUSLY: Joe Biden acknowledged that he has to prove to worried Democrats of staying in the race, telling reporters that “I’m determined I’m running. But I think it’s important that I allay fears. Let them see me out there.”
PREVIOUSLY: President Joe Biden addressed his dismal debate performance, telling reporters at his press conference that it was a bad night and that he overextended himself with his travel schedule.
He said that he needed to “pace” himself more, while suggesting that his staff that has been adding to his scheduled.
But he’s been using the backdrop of the NATO summit to lean into the foreign policy accomplishments, going into detail on Ukraine and Russia, and the situation in Israel-Gaza, while dismissing the notion that international leaders are concerned about him.
“I’m not hearing any of my European allies come up to me and say, ‘Joe, don’t run.’ What I hear them say is, ‘You got to win. You can’t let this guy come forward. He’d be a disaster.” He blasted Trump for saying at a rally that he just learned about NATO. “Foreign policy has never been his strong point,” Biden said.
He said that the NATO summit “was the most successful conference I’ve attended in a long time, and find me a world leader who didn’t think it was.”
Biden expanded on his remarks by talking of the need for the West needing a new industrial policy.
PREVIOUSLY: President Joe Biden opened his press conference, carried across networks, by giving no signal that he is planning on exiting the presidential race.
Instead, questioned on calls for him to step aside from George Clooney and on concerns from figures like Nancy Pelosi, Biden said that he was “the most qualified person to run or president.”
“I’m in this to complete the job I started,” Biden told reporters.
That said, Biden did make a verbal gaffe as he started — referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump.” He later said that he would not have picked Harris “if I didn’t think she was qualified to be president.”
Biden tried to assuage concerns over polling by pointing to other incumbent presidents who have trailed even later in the campaign.
“The idea that senators and congressmen running for office worry about the ticket is not unusual,” Biden said.
“There’s a long way to go in this campaign,” Biden said. “So I’m just going to keep moving.”
Biden started the press conference, held at the site of the NATO summit, by talking of the contrast between his approach to the alliance and that of his rival, Donald Trump. “I made it clear that I will not bow down to Putin,” Biden said.
“America cannot retreat from the world. It must lead the world,” Biden said, while he also touted his administration’s progress on the economy and to secure the border.
The press conference was viewed as a critical moment for his campaign, a test of his performance in an unscripted environment following his dismal debate two weeks ago.
The latter set off an expanding chorus of calls from Democratic donors, supporters and lawmakers for him to drop out of the race, frightened by recent polling showing that rival Donald Trump has opened up a lead in the campaign.
Biden has done 164 press conferences and media interviews, as of June 30, according to figures that presidential scholar Martha Joynt Kumar provided to Axios. That is fewer than his last six predecessors. But Biden has done 588 smaller Q&A sessions with reporters, compared to Trump with 664 but far more than Barack Obama with just 103.
The debate performance quickly triggered calls for the president to follow up with an unscripted news conference, to show that Biden had the agility to handle an unscripted and unpredictable environment given so many of his appearances have been via Teleprompter or heavily orchestrated. But in the time since the debate, many Hollywood donors and supporters have only grown more anxious, despite the campaign’s efforts to assure them that they have a path to victory.
Incredibly highly anticipated, Biden’s first solo press conference since last November even saw Fox News beforehand broadcast aides and others setting up the presidential lectern and checking color balances on-screen – a potential first. It’s nothing new for Biden to be running late for official events and speeches. However, in a bit of an odd turn for a campaign that is supposedly trying to get back on track, the late start to the presser gave critics and pundits over 40 minutes of dead TV air to fill with one barbed comment after another.
“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that the fate of the world hangs in the balance,” Rachel Maddow said on MSNBC. On CNN, Erin Burnett wondered if Biden was so damaged that no matter how well the press conference went “every night would be Groundhog Day.”
At the end of the NATO Summit this week, Thursday’s event comes as the president mistakenly called President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by the name of scorned Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The gaffe by the long-time gaffe prone Biden couldn’t have come at a worst time, with the knives out in both GOP and Democratic circles. Former actor Zelenskyy tried to save the moment by quipping “I’m better” as the president acknowledged his mistake by saying he was “so focused on beating Putin.”