Joe Biden vowed to stay in the US presidential race and defended his fitness for office in a high-stakes press conference, but failed to halt defections from Democrats urging him to drop his re-election campaign.
Mr Biden also referred to Kamala Harris as “vice-president Trump”, the kind of lapse that has triggered calls for his exit from the race.
Speaking at the end of the Nato summit in Washington late on Thursday, Mr Biden said he was best qualified to defeat Donald Trump in November and still had time to recover from what he called the “stupid mistake” of his damaging debate performance two weeks ago.
“I beat him once, and I’ll beat him again,” Biden (81), said of his 78-year-old predecessor and Republican rival. “There’s a long way to go in this campaign, I’m just going to keep moving.”
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In a press conference watched across the world for signs of the president’s fitness, Mr Biden showed his grasp of global affairs, with detailed answers on Ukraine and Israel.
But critics seized on his stumbled answers, including remarks before the start of the news conference where he mistakenly introduced Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy as “president Putin”.
In addition to his mix-up over Ms Harris’s name, Mr Biden – who is commander-in-chief of the US military – said he was “following the advice of my commander-in-chief” on Ukraine policy.
Immediately after Mr Biden walked offstage, another senior Democrat in the House of Representatives – Connecticut’s Jim Himes – called on him to step aside. He was quickly followed by Eric Sorensen from Illinois and Scott Peters of California.
Their pleas came after a new surge of House Democrats said Biden should withdraw in the hours leading up to his appearance.
As of Friday morning, 19 House members and one senator from the party have called for the president to step aside. Biden’s campaign received some relatively encouraging polling news on Friday in an NPR/Marist poll that showed him ahead by 2 percentage points over Trump nationally, with the race statistically unchanged since the debate.
“With yesterday’s press conf[erence] and this new poll, it’s time to end the freak-out and unite behind the Democratic nominee and the only person who has ever beaten Trump,” Ron Klain, his former White House chief of staff, wrote on X.
Mr Biden is heading on Friday to Michigan, a pivotal swing state, for an evening rally in Detroit.
Some big donors who have led calls for Mr Biden to drop out of the race were unmoved by the news conference. “I think he’s done,” entrepreneur Gideon Stein said, adding that Mr Biden’s “unscripted appearances instil terror in just about everyone I’ve talked to”.
A top Wall Street investor and Republican voter said Mr Biden’s unscripted press conference was the latest gift to the Trump campaign. “Trump can keep chilling until November if Biden stays in the race,” the New York-based investor said. “He can’t even remember his VP’s name.”
During the hour-long news conference the president acknowledged concerns about his mental acuity, but insisted any slip-ups were due to overscheduling and work days that start early and stretch late into the night. “I’ve just got to pace myself a little more,” he said.
Mr Biden also said he had “taken three significant and intense neurological exams” and “they say I’m in good shape”. He added: “I’m tested every single day on my neurological capacity on the decisions I make.”
But his main message was that he should be judged by his record and accomplishments. “Can you name me somebody who’s gotten more major pieces of legislation passed in 3½ years?” he said, and noted the strong job-creation numbers during his presidency.
As Mr Biden left the stage, predictive traders rated the news conference as a modest success for his re-election campaign. His implied odds of securing his party’s nomination on PredictIt, a political prediction market, rose to 44 per cent, tied with those of Harris.
Although Mr Biden’s aides had hoped to tamp down discussions over his fitness for office, the end of the Nato summit appeared to trigger another round of public debate over his candidacy.
[ Engaging, warm and confident: Kamala Harris shines as Biden fadesOpens in new window ]
Party leaders, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, had urged Democrats to refrain from undermining Mr Biden while many foreign leaders were in Washington.
The largely unscripted press conference was rare for the president, who has engaged less with journalists than any modern predecessor. His last solo press conference was after meeting Chinese president Xi Jinping in November in San Francisco.
Mr Biden acknowledged that he had to “allay” fears about his candidacy among Democrats but said it was not “unusual” for lawmakers to be concerned about the presidential ticket in an election year. He insisted that “no one” was telling him he could not beat Mr Trump.
Polling since the debate on June 27th has mostly shown Mr Trump opening up a wider lead over Mr Biden in most battleground states, adding to anxiety among Democratic lawmakers and donors.
Hakeem Jeffries, the party’s leader in the House, told reporters on Thursday morning that he intended to speak to each of the more than 200 House Democrats before talking to his top team to plot a path forward.
“Throughout this week, as House Democrats, we have engaged in a process of talking to each other. Those conversations have been candid, comprehensive and clear-eyed, and they continue,” Mr Jeffries said.
– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2024