U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at a press conference during the NATO 75th Anniversary Summit in Washington, the United States, on July 11, 2024.
Yves Herman | Reuters
President Joe Biden wrongly referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump” during the opening question of his much-anticipated solo on Thursday press conference exist washington.
“Look, I wouldn’t choose Vice President Trump to be vice president (if) I didn’t think she was qualified to be president,” Biden ” said, confusing his No. 2 with his November election opponent, former President Donald Trump.
A reporter pointed out Biden’s mistake in the final question of the press conference and asked the president to comment on the mistake after Trump mocked him for it. Biden smiled to himself, replied, “Just what he wants,” and walked off the stage.
Thursday’s press conference is seen as Biden’s best chance to prove to Democrats that he can handle tough issues and think on his feet in an impromptu setting.
Pressure has been escalating for weeks on Biden to drop out of the 2024 race after his poor performance in the debates. trump card On June 27, his campaign failed to allay voters’ concerns about his health.
However, people soon discovered that Biden’s hour-long press conference did not allay the concerns of the Democratic Party.
Four minutes after he walked off the podium, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said: Issues statement calling on Biden to withdraw from the race.
Soon after, Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., did the same thing. “The stakes are high and we are on a path to failure,” Peters said in a statement.
As he has done all week, Biden has rigorously rejected any suggestion that he should or will withdraw, insisting that no one is better equipped to defeat Trump in November.
But Biden did it admitted he would consider dropping out of the race He can’t win if his team comes and tells him “no way.”
Despite being tasked with rescuing a faltering campaign, the president repeatedly said the wrong thing when answering reporters’ questions and appeared to lose his train of thought multiple times. Trump and his campaign posted several clips of Biden’s gaffe online truth society.
In another memorable gaffe, Biden referred to his chief of staff as “my commander in chief” before realizing his mistake.
He also sometimes gives meandering answers, such as taking seven minutes to answer a question about China. As he spoke, he would occasionally pause and stumble over his own words.
“Some of our European friends are going to invest less in Russia and, I mean, sorry, in China,” the president said.
When he cited figures, he repeatedly stated that he might get them wrong: “Don’t let me know the exact number.”
Biden also often interrupts himself mid-speech, veering off into unrelated topics as he tries to defend his re-election: “We still have a lot to do. I’m determined to get this done. This is about freedom. By the way, I “It’ll end this, okay, I’m not going to do that…Hailey has to come up too,” he said, then trailed off.
Earlier Thursday night, Biden rubbed salt into his political wounds in a scripted speech. NATO incident Tribute to Ukraine, who accidentally introduced the president of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky As “President Putin”.
“Now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has the same courage and determination. Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” Biden said, before quickly correcting himself.
The last time Biden held a separate press conference was after meeting Trump in November 2023. Chinese President Xi Jinping In California.
This time, the president faces a new level pressure The future of his reelection bid hangs in the balance.
Since his June debate debacle, new fissures have emerged daily in Biden’s support for Democratic lawmakers, donors, fundraisers and strategists.
Hours before Biden’s highly anticipated news conference, one of his campaign officials told NBC News that the president needs to step aside: “He’s never going to recover from this.”
