WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden spoke to reporters for about an hour Thursday night, unleashing a flurry of ideas born out of his half-century of experience in elected office.
He spoke about gun violence and taxes, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s economic influence in Europe.
But at this perilous moment in Biden’s candidacy, his policy positions aren’t necessarily what audiences need to hear.
Biden, who is struggling to bounce back from his performance in last month’s debate, is being judged more on the style and clarity of his answers than the substance of them.
Democratic leaders are considering whether to remove Mr. Biden from the ballot box. To quell an insurrection, the 81-year-old Biden will need to prove he can speak with the clarity and confidence that voters, or at least members of his own party, expect from a president.
The news conference, concluding three days of NATO summits in Washington, was Biden’s biggest test since the debates and, if he hangs on, perhaps his biggest until next month’s Democratic presidential nominating convention. There was no teleprompter to guide Biden during questioning, and no pre-approved questions given to reporters in advance.
It was by no means a terrible performance to warrant debate, but it was also not a spectacular one to permanently erase any doubts about his health.
“It may be too little, too late,” said a Democratic congressman, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Just minutes after his first response, Biden mistakenly referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump.”
Donald Trump was quick to respond to the gaffe, mocking Biden on his social media site, saying, “Well done, Joe.”
A similar gaffe came just hours earlier, when Biden mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin” while introducing him at the summit.
There were gasps of surprise from the audience, and Biden quickly corrected himself after realising his mistake.
“If you call the vice president ‘Vice President Trump’ and Zelensky Mr. Putin in the same day, it would be disastrous,” a Democratic strategist told NBC News.
Biden, who was unable to finish sentences or thoughts during the debates, has little room for error — any gaffe is sure to be highlighted and seen as evidence of weakness.
“It wasn’t as bad as the debates, but it wasn’t as reassuring,” said Rosa Brooks, a former senior Pentagon official during the Obama administration and now a professor at Georgetown Law School. “He was clearly trying very hard to maintain his train of thought, and he wasn’t always successful.”
Biden’s aides were jubilant about his performance, believing he showed a policy ability that Trump never matched.
White House press secretary Andrew Bates posted on social media: “To answer your question, Joe Biden does not have a PhD in foreign affairs. He is just very good.”
Biden’s dilemma is that so much attention has been focused on his grammar that he has trouble distinguishing himself from Trump, who he did his best to say at a news conference: European leaders told him: “You have to win. [Trump] That would be a disaster.”
Another test will come on Monday, when Biden is scheduled to give an interview to NBC News’ Lester Holt. Until then, he will need to stave off a mass defection of Democrats who want a younger candidate like Harris at the top of their party.
The end of the NATO summit could open the door to a backlash from Democrats who do not want to be seen as abandoning the president in front of dozens of allied leaders.
As the summit drew to a close, new defections emerged.
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) issued a statement minutes after the press conference ended calling on Biden to resign.
Biden must “make way for a new generation of leaders,” he wrote.
