President Joe Biden used his highly anticipated news conference Thursday to deliver a forceful defense of his foreign and domestic policies and batted away questions about his ability to serve another four years even as he flubbed a reference to Donald Trump in one of his first answers.
"I'm not in this for my legacy. I'm in this to complete the job I started," Biden said, insisting his support among the electorate was strong and that he would stay in the race and win.
Fumbles notwithstanding, the President pushed back at every suggestion that he was slowing down, showing noticeable signs of decline, or that he was not in command of the job. But he was facing a growing chorus of calls from lawmakers, celebrities, and other prominent Democrats to step aside from the 2024 race.
"My schedule has been full-bore," he declared. "So if I slow down and I can't get the job done, that's a sign that I shouldn't be doing it. But there's no indication of that yet — none."
Democrats are facing an intractable problem. Top donors, supporters and key lawmakers doubt Biden's abilities to carry on his re-election bid after his disastrous June 27 debate performance. Still, the hard-fighting 81-year-old President refuses to give up as he prepares to take on Trump in a rematch.
"I'm determined on running but I think it's important that I allay fears — let them see me out there," he said.
The first questioner of Biden's news conference asked about his losing support among many of his fellow Democrats and unionists and about Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden was at first defiant, saying the "UAW endorsed me, but go ahead," meaning the United Auto Workers. But then he mixed up Harris and Trump, saying, "I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be Vice President if she wasn't qualified."
Trump weighed in live on Biden's news conference with a post on his social media network, which featured a video clip of the President saying "Vice President Trump."
Trump added sarcastically, "Great job, Joe!"
Most of the hourlong news conference was vintage Biden: He gave long answers on foreign policy and told well-worn anecdotes. He used teleprompters for his opening remarks on NATO, which ran about eight minutes. Then the teleprompters lowered and he took a wide range of questions from 10 journalists about his mental acuity, foreign and domestic policy and — mostly — the future of his campaign.
"I believe I'm the best qualified to govern. I believe I'm the best qualified to win," Biden said, adding that he will stay in the race until his staff says, "There's no way you can win."
"No one's saying that," he said. "No poll says that."
Earlier, Biden's campaign laid out what it sees as its path to keeping the White House in a new memo, saying that winning the "blue wall" states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan is the "clearest pathway" to victory. It declared that no other Democrat would do better against Trump.
"There is also no indication that anyone else would outperform the President vs. Trump," said the memo from Campaign Chair Jen O'Malley Dillon and Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez that The Associated Press obtained.
The memo sought to brush back "hypothetical polling of alternative nominees " as unreliable, and it said such surveys "do not take into account the negative media environment that any Democratic nominee will encounter."
Meanwhile, the campaign has been quietly surveying voters on Harris to determine how she's viewed among the electorate, according to two people with knowledge of the campaign who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to talk about internal matters.
The people said the polling was not necessarily to show that she could be the nominee in Biden's place but rather to better understand how she's viewed. According to another person familiar with the effort, the research came after Trump stepped up his attacks against Harris following the debate. The survey was first reported by The New York Times.
While Biden has expressed confidence in his chances, his campaign on Thursday acknowledged he is behind, and a growing number of the President's aides in the White House and the campaign privately harbor doubts that he can turn things around.
But they're taking their cues from Biden, expressing that he is in 100% unless and until he isn't, and there appears to be no organized internal effort to persuade the President to step aside. His allies were well aware that, heading into the week, there would be more calls for him to step down, and they were prepared for it.
But in announcing a compact that would bring together NATO countries to support Ukraine, Biden referred to the nation's leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy as "President Putin" to audible gasps in the room. He quickly returned to the microphone: "President Putin — he's going to beat President Putin … President Zelenskyy," Biden said.
Then he said, "I'm so focused on beating Putin," to explain the gaffe.
"I'm better," Zelenskyy replied. "You're a hell of a lot better," Biden said back.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer invited Biden's team to meet with Senators privately during lunch to discuss concerns and the path forward. Still, some Senators groused they would prefer to hear from the President himself. Only Peter Welch of Vermont has called for Biden to step out of the race in the Senate.
The 90-minute conversation with the president's team, which one person said included no new data, polling, or game plan on how Biden would beat Trump, did not appear to change Senators' minds. The person was granted anonymity to discuss the closed-door session.
One Senator, who requested anonymity to discuss the private briefing, said the meeting was frank, angry at times, and somewhat painful since many in the room know and love Biden. Senators confronted the advisers over Biden's performance at the debate and its effect on Senate races this year.
One Democrat, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, said afterward, "My belief is that the President can win, but he's got to be able to go out and answer voters' concerns. He's got to be able to talk to voters directly over the next few days."
At the same time, influential Senators are standing strongly with Biden, leaving the party at an impasse.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, told the AP he thinks Biden "is going to win this election. I think he has a chance to win it big."
Sanders said he has been publicly critical of the campaign and said Biden needs to talk more about the future and his plans for the country.
"As we come closer to Election Day, the choices are very clear," he said.
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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
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