Takeaways from Biden’s critical solo news conference

By Michael Williams, CNN

Washington (CNN) — President Joe Biden on Thursday participated in the most high-stakes news conference of his political career on the sidelines of the NATO summit, aiming to convince his detractors and supporters that he is able to serve another four years in office.

Biden spoke for just under an hour, calling on 10 reporters and answering 19 questions.

Here are some takeaways from the news conference.

Performance serves as a Rorschach test for nervous Democrats

Biden’s performance likely won’t change many minds – Democrats who want Biden to step down are able to jump on a notable verbal gaffe he made at the beginning of the news conference, while Biden’s supporters will point toward the time he spent deftly answering a variety of questions on foreign policy.

Toward the beginning of the question-and-answer, Biden mistakenly referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as former President Donald Trump. It was exactly the type of slip-up the White House and Biden’s campaign presumably would have feared amid mounting questions surrounding his mental acuity.

“I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president did I think she was not qualified to be president,” he said.

The president did not correct himself. He made a similar mistake earlier in the day, accidentally calling Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky “President Putin” while introducing him during a NATO event.

But Biden quickly moved on, and he spent the rest of the news conference lobbing in-depth answers about questions including Russia, Israel and his economy, offering deep answers on dealing with China and US policy around Ukraine’s fight against Russia.

Biden eagerly takes on Trump

Part of Biden’s problem at the debate last month is that he was not able to effectively counter Trump, call out the former president’s lies and distinguish himself from his predecessor while he was standing just feet away from him.

He didn’t have the same problem on Thursday, lashing out at Trump’s record and his lack of public events since the debate.

“My schedule has been full bore. I’ve done — where’s Trump been? Riding on his golf cart, filling out his scorecard before he hits the ball? I mean, look. He’s done virtually nothing,” Biden said.

But Trump hasn’t had to do anything since then. With the bulk of the national attention on Biden and his missteps, Trump and his campaign have made a strategic point of letting the president continue digging himself in a hole.

During multiple answers, Biden turned the focus onto his opponent and even took him on during the opening statement of the news conference. Much of Biden’s focus at the NATO summit was to promote how he had united the alliance after Trump did much to divide it during his term.

Biden told reporters said foreign leaders he’s met at the conference haven’t expressed concerns over his fitness for office, instead expressing concern over the prospect of a second Trump term.

“I think I can I say this without sounding too self-serving– I’ve not had any of my European allies come up to me and say, ‘Joe don’t run,’” he said. “What I hear them say is, you gotta win – you can’t have this guy come forward, he’d be a disaster, he’d be a disaster.”

Biden brushes off concerns about his campaign: ‘I’m just gonna keep moving’

Biden frequently brushed aside concerns about his candidacy by telling reporters he’s the most qualified person to run for president. On occasions, he sounded downright mad and offended by the questions over his fitness for office and the state of his campaign.

“I think I’m the most qualified person to run for president. I beat him once and I will beat him again,” Biden said, referring to Trump.

He continued, “There’s a long way to go this campaign and so I – I’m just gonna keep moving.”

The length of Biden’s resume has never been in doubt. The president has had more political experience than any one who has ever held or ran for the office. But what’s of concern to those calling for him to step aside is not his qualifications, but his ability to govern for another term.

Sixteen House Democrats have called on Biden to step aside – four of them doing so on Thursday before the news conference. But that still only represents less than 10% of the House Democratic caucus.

It’s no longer only the ‘Lord Almighty’ who could convince Biden to drop out

One week ago, Biden defiantly swatted away any notion that he would drop from the race, telling ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that only the “Lord Almighty” could convince him to remove himself from the ticket.

Biden was more restrained on Thursday.

He reiterated his belief that he is the best qualified to win in November – while still admitting other Democrats could defeat Trump. Biden said his advantage against those Democrats is that they won’t have to start a national campaign from scratch.

“I believe I’m the best qualified to govern. And I think I’m the best qualified to win. But there are other people could beat Trump too. But it’s awful hard to start from scratch. And you know, we talk about, you know, money raised – we’re not doing bad. We’re gonna put $220 million in the bank. We’re doing well,” he said.

Pressed on whether he might reconsider his stance if he was shown data that had Harris performing better against Trump, he offered some openness to that possibility.

“No, unless they came back and said there’s no way you can win,” Biden said. That’s a much different answer from last week, and signifies the intense conversations Biden has been having with his top aides since the ABC interview.

The president also said that delegates at the Democratic National Convention next month could vote their conscience for another candidate if they so choose. But, he reiterated his belief that such a scenario would not happen.

He acknowledged that down-ballot Democrats may continue to disavow his name at the top of the ticket as they face tough reelection battles.

“If they think that running with Biden at the top is going to hurt them, then they’re going to run away,” Biden said. “I get it.”

News conference doesn’t stop the bleeding as more Dems defect from Biden

If the news conference was aimed at keeping lawmakers from abandoning the president, it was not successful.

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Jim Himes, called on Biden to step aside almost at the exact time the news conference ended. He was the first House Democrat to call on the president to leave the ticket after the news conference, but not the last.

“It is because of those traits and, and in consideration of that legacy, that I hope President Biden will step away from the presidential campaign,” he said on X.

Not long after Himes, California Democrat Rep. Scott Peters issued his own call for Biden to withdraw his candidacy. Peters is a prominent Democrat among the center-left.

“Today I ask President Biden to withdraw from the presidential campaign,” the San Diego Democrat wrote in a statement shared with CNN.

Illinois Rep. Eric Sorensen soon after became the 17th Democrat on Capitol Hill to call for the president to step aside.

“In 2020, Joe Biden ran for President with the purpose of putting country over party. Today, I am asking him to do that again,” Sorensen said in a statement on X. “I am hopeful President Biden will step aside in his campaign for President.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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