U.S. President Joe Biden delivered a series of sometimes shaky answers to questions from reporters during a nearly hourlong news conference Thursday, but he also demonstrated a command of foreign policy and avoided repeating the worst moments of the presidential debate two weeks ago that set off turmoil within his party.
After initially reading from a teleprompter and repeating his vow to stay in the race, Biden tried to defuse some questions about his age and fitness for office, but at one point fumbled on a question about Vice President Kamala Harris, saying that he "wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president” if he didn’t have confidence in her. That came shortly after he introduced President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine as "President Putin” at a NATO meeting.
The solo news conference, his first in eight months, was designed to demonstrate that he remains capable of the nimbleness and stamina required to prosecute the case against former President Donald Trump. He stood before the reporters amid news that some longtime advisers and allies are said to be considering ways to convince him to end his candidacy.
Here’s what else to know:
Another flub: Biden’s flub about Harris was followed by another stumble during the news conference, when the president said that he — the American commander in chief — would consult "my commander in chief” on questions about arming Ukraine.
Attacking Trump: Biden opened his news conference by boasting about his accomplishments on the world stage and attacking Trump. Biden noted the decline in inflation in the United States and said he was optimistic that Hamas and Israel can complete an agreement to bring an end to the war in the Gaza Strip. At the end, he was asked how he would respond to Trump taking note of the flub over Harris’ name, Biden said, "Listen to him.”
Best qualified: Most of the questions from reporters were about Democratic calls for him to step aside, which he again rejected, insisting that "I think I’m the best qualified person to do the job.” But his answers to the questions were less forceful than his opening, and he sometimes appeared to mumble or ramble at times. Also for the first time, Biden conceded that polls show "other people can beat Mr. Trump in the fall” but added that, "it’s hard to start from scratch.”
China policy: The president gave a long, detailed answer to a question about the economic and political competition with China, appearing more comfortable dealing with the foreign policy issues at the heart of the just-concluded NATO meeting in Washington.
Rare news conference: The president’s last solo news conference was in November, during a summit with President Xi Jinping of China. He has held only 14 solo news conferences, according to data compiled by Martha Kumar, an emeritus professor of political science at Towson University in Maryland. It is the fewest presidential news conferences since Ronald Reagan.
Political outreach: The Biden campaign dispatched staff members to Capitol Hill to meet with Democratic lawmakers in an effort to calm their nerves, even as five more members of the House called on the president to step aside. Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Greg Stanton of Arizona, Ed Case of Hawaii, Brad Schneider of Illinois and Hillary Scholten of Michigan became the latest House Democrats to call for Biden to leave the race. On Wednesday, Peter Welch of Vermont became the first Senate Democrat to call for him to withdraw.
Campaign assesses Harris: Biden’s campaign has begun to assess the strength of Harris in a head-to-head matchup against Trump, according to three people informed about the voter survey who insisted on anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times © 2025 The New York Times Company
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