Biden vows to ‘keep moving’ in campaign despite Democratic discontent

President Biden defended his viability atop the Democratic ticket Thursday amid growing calls from lawmakers for him to step aside, laying out the case for his candidacy but making a high-profile gaffe at a closely watched press conference.

The president was adamant he was the best man to take on former President Trump in November, despite others in the party openly questioning whether that was the case, as he held court with reporters for nearly an hour.

“I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president did I think she was not qualified to be president,” Biden said, confusing his running mate with his opponent in response to the first question of the night. 

Biden’s high-profile gaffe, confusing Vice President Harris with former President Trump shortly after he mistakenly introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin,” threatened to overshadow what was otherwise a relatively strong showing in which the president fielded questions about foreign policy, confronting Russia and China, and the risks for the U.S. if a future administration pulls back from the world stage.

“I believe I’m the best qualified to govern,” he added later. “And I think I’m the best qualified to win. But there are other people who could beat Trump, too. But it’s all start from scratch. And you know, we talk about money raised. We’re not doing bad.”

“So let’s start there, No. 1” he continued. “The fact is, the consideration is, that I think I’m the most qualified person to run for president. I beat him once, and I will beat him again.”

The president later said he’s “determined on running” and said he thinks it’s important for Americans to “see me out there” to ease concerns about his fitness. 

“We can’t afford to lose what we’ve done or backslide on civil rights, civil liberties, women’s rights,” he added, raising his voice to say he’s determined to curb gun violence and deal with the conservative-leaning Supreme Court.

“I gotta finish this job, because there’s so much at stake,” he said.

Biden fielded questions for nearly an hour from 10 different reporters at a press conference that wrapped up the NATO summit. Much of the focus was on the state of his struggling campaign and whether he would remain in the race, even as the president and his aides touted the success of the week’s summit and his foreign policy credentials.

Polls have shown Biden trailing Trump in battleground states in the wake of a disastrous June 27 debate in which he struggled to complete sentences and stood with his mouth agape as his opponent spoke.

The president downplayed the restlessness on Capitol Hill on Thursday, saying it was “not unusual” for lawmakers to worry about the top of the ticket. And he claimed there were “at least five” other incumbent presidents running for reelection who had worse poll numbers than he does less than five months until Election Day.

“So there’s a long way to go in this campaign,” he said. “So I’m just going to keep moving. Keep moving and, because, I’ve got more work to do.”

Biden downplayed the idea that remaining in the race would damage his legacy.

“I’m not in this for my legacy. I’m in this to complete the job I started,” he said, a remark shared widely on social media by campaign and White House aides.

The president insisted at one point that “it’s not going to happen,” when asked if he thinks he will be challenged at the Democratic National Convention next month, but said the party’s delegates would be “free to do whatever they want” if they wanted to choose another candidate.

Biden also said he would have another neurological exam if his doctors suggested he should.

He was pressed on whether he would drop out if he saw data that Harris was polling ahead of him to beat Trump, but Biden didn’t entertain the idea. A poll from Bendixen & Amandi Inc., a top Democratic pollster, this week showed Harris edged out Trump by 1 point, 42 percent to 41 percent, and that Biden fell 1 point behind him.

“Not unless they came back and said there’s no way you can win,” he said. “Me — no one’s saying it, no poll says that.”

There was a sense among White House aides that the press conference had gone well.

“To answer the question on everyone’s minds: No, Joe Biden does not have a doctorate in foreign affairs. He’s just that f‑‑‑ing good,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates posted on X.

And the thinking from Biden World was that the president did “far more” than have a lengthy back-and-forth with the press, according to a source familiar, who argued Biden “answered complex, multistep questions about foreign policy in detail and beyond I think probably anybody’s capacity.” The press conference is being seen as having proved that substance over style matters and that Biden was able to dispel the notion that him staying in the race is not about his personal legacy.

But almost immediately after the press conference ended, Biden faced a fresh call to drop out of the race from Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.

Democrats were closely monitoring Biden’s press conference Thursday evening to see if he could show he is up to the job of coherently and sharply answering questions from reporters. Roughly a dozen lawmakers have called on him to step aside as the nominee, while several others have questioned if he can successfully campaign against Trump and persuade voters to back him for another term.

The New York Times and NBC News reported Thursday that some Biden campaign officials were increasingly pessimistic about his path to victory and were weighing how to discourage him from running. The campaign denied it was discussing urging him to step aside.

While the NATO summit has made the war in Ukraine and pushing back on Russia’s aggression a major focus, the majority of the questions were focused on Biden’s political future and if he’s up for another four years in office.

Biden was asked if he would be able to handle a one-on-one meeting with President Vladimir Putin at this point, amid calls for him to drop out over his age and mental fitness, and Biden insisted,  “I’m ready to deal with him now and three years from now.”

“I’m dealing with Xi right now and in direct contact with him,” Biden said, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping. “I have no good reason to talk to Putin right now. … But, there isn’t any world leader I’m not prepared to deal with. But I understand your generic point — is Putin ready to talk? I’m not ready to talk to Putin unless Putin is ready to change his behavior.”

Pressed on how he can reassure the American people that he is up for another four years on the job, he leaned on his accomplishments so far and said whether he is doing the job well would be the best barometer.

He defended his schedule: While reports have indicated that the president wants to scale back and not hold events after 8 p.m., he claimed they were not true and contrasted his own activity with Trump’s lack of public events in recent weeks.

“Instead of starting a fundraiser at 9 o’clock, start it at 8 o’clock, people get to go home by 10 o’clock,” he said. “My schedule has been full bore.

“I love my staff, but they add things,” he quipped. “They add things all the time. At the very end. I’m catching hell from my wife for that.”

Harris’s name has been in the spotlight since calls on Biden to step down have piled up. When asked about his vice president, Biden praised her for her work on reproductive health and her previous work as a prosecutor and a senator.

“She’s qualified for president. That’s why I picked her,” the president said.